The BRICS Process Gets Underway in Rio de Janeiro

July 6—The annual summit meeting of the BRICS nations will be held July 6-7 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and key preparatory meetings are being held over the weekend. The Finance Ministers were scheduled to meet July 5, and the New Development Bank (NDB), often referred to as the BRICS bank, held the annual meeting of its board of directors on July 4, celebrating its tenth year of existence.

Russian Foreign Minister Anton Siluanov also took up the role the BRICS should play in devising a new financial system, in a speech to the NDB meeting. According to an article in Brazil’s leading financial daily, Monitor Mercantil “the Russian minister stated that the financial assets of the BRICS countries are over 50% of the world total … and are more that $60 trillion…. Siluanov stated that, in this situation, the model of the bank changes from a bank of the BRICS countries to a bank of the Global South.”

Siluanov added: “A strong financial market is needed in the countries of the Global South. It is important to create an infrastructure with an unprecedented flow of capital. We are working on this within the framework of the BRICS.”

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin, unable to attend the summit in person due to the ICC warrant out for his arrest for alleged crimes against humanity in the conduct of the war in Ukraine, will nonetheless participate in the opening plenary session by videoconference, according to TASS, adding that there will also be another event he will participate in, which the Kremlin will announce at a later date. It is not clear whether Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is also unable to attend will similarly participate via video conferencing.