Kazan: Russian President Vladimir Putin said that more than 30 countries have expressed a desire to join the BRICS alliance. "It would be wrong to ignore the unprecedented interest of the countries of the Global South and East in strengthening contacts with BRICS. In one form or another, more than 30 states have already expressed such a desire. At the same time, it is necessary to maintain a balance and not allow a decrease in the effectiveness of BRICS," said Putin while making his opening statement at the 16th BRICS Summit in the Russian city of Kazan.
In his opening remarks, the Russian President highlighted that it was for the first time that the BRICS Summit is also being held in an expanded format as it was the Russian presidency's motto to strengthen multilateralism for equitable global development and security.
"We sought to strengthen the authority of BRICS, enhance its role in world affairs, in solving urgent, global and regional problems, and in every way contributed to the deepening of multifaceted cooperation between our states in three main areas: politics and security, economics and finance, cultural and humanitarian contacts. And, naturally, we did everything to ensure the smooth and most complete integration of new member countries into the work of the association," he said.
During the narrow format meeting, the leaders held discussions on more pressing aspects of the global agenda, including cooperation between BRICS states in the international arena and settlement of acute regional conflicts.
"We are all witnesses to the dynamic development of BRICS, the strengthening of its authority and influence in world affairs. The member states of our association possess truly enormous political, economic, scientific, technological and human potential. At the same time, we are united by common values and worldview," he said.
Putin bats for alternative international payment systemPresident Vladimir Putin opened the summit by issuing a call for an alternative international payments system that could prevent the US using the dollar as a political weapon, The Guardian reported. Speaking at the summit in the Russian city of Kazan, Putin said: “The dollar is being used as a weapon. We really see that this is so. I think that this is a big mistake by those who do this.” However, the summit communique indicated that little progress had been made on an alternative payment system, the newspaper said. |
