South Africa: Opening of BRICS Summit on Tuesday, without Vladimir Putin
The 15th BRICS Summit started on Tuesday, August 22, 2023, in Johannesburg, South Africa. As expected, the notable absence from this gathering of the five is Vladimir Putin, who is represented by his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov. The Russian President will participate in this important meeting via video conference.
Also present are the Brazilian President Lula, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
«What we expect from you is to ensure that every person visiting us here is safe, that every citizen of this country is safe (…) As for the question of whether we are doing this for BRICS, absolutely! » said South African Minister of Police, Bheki Cele.
«We cannot deny it. We have increased our resources, we have increased our efforts, we have increased our capabilities, but we have been here all along, and we will be here long after BRICS».
Apart from the leaders of the 5 member countries, around fifty heads of state «friends of BRICS» are also participating in this 15th BRICS Summit. In total, 69 countries have been invited to the summit, which will take place until August 24, 2023, including all African states.
It should be noted that several African countries, such as Algeria, Egypt, and Ethiopia, have expressed their desire to join the BRICS bloc.
The group consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, positioning itself as a counterbalance to Western economic dominance. BRICS represents 23% of the global gross domestic product and 42% of the world’s population.
As a reminder, Vladimir Putin is the subject of an international arrest warrant for the war crime of “deportation” of Ukrainian children since the invasion of Ukraine by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which South Africa, a signatory of the Rome Statute, is theoretically supposed to apply if he enters its territory.
Pedro Okalamar
