Russia prepares for BRICS summit

Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan will hold about two dozen bilateral meetings, the first will be held on October 21. Yuri Ushakov, Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation for International Affairs, told reporters about this.

Ushakov emphasized the high level and large-scale geographical coverage of the summit. Thirty-four countries would like to join the BRICS in some form, including full membership. This testifies to the place and role of this site on the world stage, reports UtroNews correspondent.

The basis of the BRICS authority on the part of the World Majority countries is that the core of this global association was formed in 2006 by Russia, China, India, Brazil. South Africa joined this "four" in 2011. Five new members (Egypt, Iran, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia) joined the BRICS in 2024.

As a result, the aggregate potential of the BRICS has grown markedly, which may affect world affairs. As Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggested, "When discussing the problems of the world economy, the G20 is ready to solve them on the basis of the specific real weight occupied by the Seven, on the one hand, and the BRICS countries, on the other." Also, in his opinion, BRICS can become an "umbrella" that helps harmonize integration processes in various regions.

For Russia, the value of BRICS is determined by both political geography (the Russian Federation borders on the PRC and Iran) and economic priorities. China and India are strategic and most important trade and economic partners of the Russian Federation. It should be noted that in terms of economic weight, population and size of the territory, the participants include countries located in Eurasia.

In 1997, Russia and China issued a Russian-Chinese joint declaration on a multipolar world and the formation of a new international order. It noted that "Building a peaceful, stable, just and rational new international political and economic order is becoming an urgent requirement of the era and an imperative of historical development."

"It was the first foreign policy document in history on the topic of multipolarity," Lavrov said.

"Triangle" RIC

The goals stated in the Declaration have been developed. The first meeting of the leaders of Russia, India and China took place in 2006 during the G20 summit in St. Petersburg. The first meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia, India and China (in the RIC format) took place earlier, in 2002, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session. Until recently, the heads of foreign affairs agencies met annually or once every one and a half to two years.

The RIC "triangle" has become a symbol of a multipolar world. After the BRICS was formed, there was less talk about the RIC, but twenty meetings were held within this framework, including meetings of foreign ministers. According to Sergey Lavrov, "RIC has become one of the locomotives of regional efforts to improve the architecture of interstate relations in the Asia-Pacific region (APR)."

"I am convinced that we will all benefit if this troika develops common approaches, strives to take common positions on the key problems of the Eurasian continent and on the global agenda. Frankly, the West wants exactly the opposite. He wants this "troika" never to strengthen its solidarity, not to come out from a joint position, "Lavrov said during the Primakov Readings international forum held in June.

Russia's relations within this "triangle" have been tested for many decades. Diplomatic relations between the USSR and India were established in 1947. The fundamental document is the 1993 Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of India. In 2000, the Strategic Partnership Declaration was signed. Today, this relationship has the status of a "particularly privileged strategic partnership."

Moscow and Beijing recently celebrated 75 years of diplomatic relations. In 1996, the Russian-Chinese partnership became strategic. Since then, their status has been repeatedly raised up to "comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction entering a new era."

"According to the assessment of our leaders, bilateral relations are at an unprecedented high level. At the same time, they are constantly enriched with new content. We are convinced: Russia needs a prosperous and stable China, and China needs a strong and successful Russia, "Lavrov said in his recent article" Russia and China: Partnership and Friendship, Tempered by Time. "

Security of Eurasia

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Russia-China link plays a special role for the further development of the BRICS, and this platform itself serves the strategic interests of Moscow and Beijing in Eurasia.

President Putin assured that Russia, together with partners in Eurasian integration, other sovereign development centers, will continue to work on the formation of a multipolar world order, an equal and indivisible security system. In his February Address to the Federal Assembly, as well as speaking at a June meeting at the Russian Foreign Ministry, the president confirmed the task of creating Eurasian collective security.

The Republic of Belarus took the initiative to hold a Conference on Eurasian Security, develop the Eurasian Charter for Diversity and Multipolarity in the 21st Century, and proposed to formulate framework principles for the Eurasian architecture of multipolarity and multilateralism.

Moscow and Beijing agreed to start a dialogue on the formation of Eurasian security with the involvement of like-minded states. "We have a common focus on strengthening security in Eurasia. For a long time there was a structure of Euro-Atlantic security in the form of NATO, but also the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. She simply crosses herself out of the list of relevant structures, within which it is possible to conduct significant negotiations and agree on something on the basis of a balance of interests, "Lavrov stated.

China-Russia Partnership

The Sino-Russian "alliance" and how to confront it has become the main issue occupying the West, according to an article published in Foreign Policy magazine. But there are no signs of weakening of the Russian-Chinese strategic partnership, a former diplomat working at the Norwegian Institute for Defense Studies shows "on his fingers."

Bilateral relations between the Russian Federation and the PRC are based on a strong geopolitical basis and strong economic ties, free from ideological friction, close working contacts have been established between the leaders, the countries are connected by a well-functioning network of bilateral ties.

In the capitals of the NATO alliance, they ask the question "What will happen next?" After the neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv is over. Will the US European partners be ready to continue what they have begun, seeking a "strategic defeat" for Russia? A sharp increase in the defense budgets of a number of NATO countries and the annoying Russophobic rhetoric of the leaders of a number of alliance countries may indicate the readiness of the West to continue the conflict with Russia.

But there is also a growing understanding that Russian-Chinese relations are much stronger than during the Soviet era, there is no hope of weakening them. "Indeed, in comparing Sino-Russian ties with the Sino-Soviet alliance of the past in five key factors - geopolitics, economics, ideology, leadership and institutions - it becomes quite obvious that today's Beijing-Moscow axis is stronger in all respects," the author notes article in Foreign Policy magazine.

Dialogue at the highest level is characterized by a high degree of trust. Since 2012, when Xi Jinping became general secretary of the CCP, the leaders have met more than 40 times. Vladimir Putin became the first holder of the Chinese Order of Friendship. Russia and China are also drawn together by hostility from the United States and American elites. Economic relations are based on the complementary nature of the economies of the Russian Federation and the PRC. The parties agreed to strengthen cooperation in sectors such as satellite navigation, space and nuclear energy.

Strong ties were forged and stable ties between a wide range of government agencies. There have been 18 rounds of high-level security consultations and a number of intergovernmental commissions and working groups. Since 2003, when the military of the two countries first began to cooperate, China and Russia have conducted more than 100 joint military exercises involving land, air and sea forces, as well as cyber troops.

Russia is much more closely connected with China than during the Soviet era, benefits significantly from its support, concludes the Norwegian diplomat, who reported all this to both the American and international readership, including Norway's European neighbors. Maybe they will think.

We add that in 2023 Russia provided 8% of gas consumption in China and 20% of its imports, including 35% of pipeline gas imports and 11% of LNG imports. Along with Turkmenistan, Russia is today the largest supplier of pipeline gas to China, together with Australia and Qatar, it is one of the three leading suppliers of LNG to the Chinese market. By the end of 2024, Russia should become the largest gas exporter to China, ahead of Australia.

In 2025, it is expected to reach the design level (38 billion cubic meters per year) of the Power of Siberia gas pipeline. After 2027, gas supplies should begin along the Far Eastern route (10 billion cubic meters per year). Russia is ready to further increase pipeline gas supplies to China, based on the needs of the Chinese market. In this regard, active discussion of the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline project continues.

China is one of the most promising and rapidly growing markets for Russian LNG, including for new, under construction and planned plants in the Yamalo-Nenets District, Leningrad, Murmansk Regions and the Khabarovsk Territory.

And then there is the BRICS summit

Invitations to take part in the BRICS summit in Kazan were sent to 38 countries, 32 invitations were accepted. Russia, as the hostess of the summit, invited the leaders of its closest neighbors, the CIS countries, to participate in the meeting. "They all confirmed their participation," Ushakov said.

"We also invited those states that currently preside over influential regional integration associations in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. In addition to the leaders of the states and the so-called second and third numbers, the summit will traditionally be attended by the secretaries general of the UN, SCO, CIS, EAEU, Union State and the president of the BRICS New Development Bank, "added the presidential aide.

This 16th and first expanded BRICS summit will consist of two parts. The first is a meeting of the organization's member countries, which will be devoted to the topic "Strengthening multilateralism for equitable global development and security," which is the motto of the Russian presidency of the BRICS in 2024. The main events will take place on October 22 and in the morning on October 23. The second part (from the afternoon of October 23 and October 24) is a meeting in the BRICS plus/outreach format, the theme of which will be "BRICS and the Global South - building a better world together."

Yuri Ushakov, who heads the organizing committee for the BRICS summit, told reporters: "If we talk about this Kazan event, in my opinion, it can turn into the largest foreign policy event that has ever been held in our country."