BRICS: I feel Good … End of the RIO summit

After studying that long Leaders’ Declaration, yeah! I like it!

And heaps of thanks to Pepe Escobar, who was going to make this summit succeed even if only by himself! Sugar and Spice Pepe!

So, why do I feel good? It is always in looking back at things that a better perspective arises. The document itself set a tone and a set of values. The process up to the Rio Summit was one that had many of us in despair. I observed a noticeable shift in the group’s personality when the foreign ministers arrived in late April for their summit. The trajectory, the feel, and sense of the meetings changed, gained focus, and expressed objectives in clear terms. At that time, they expressed the objectives as strengthening the framework of the BRICS Strategic Partnership according to the three pillars of cooperation – policy and security, economy and finance, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges. They reaffirmed their commitment to the BRICS spirit, which features mutual respect and understanding, equality, solidarity, openness, inclusiveness, and consensus.

The same happened at this Summit itself, and we saw those three pillars light up and activate – Let me call it the Lavrov effect.

Reading the Leaders’ Declaration at first glance, it seemed as if they were weak. NO! They were detailed and thorough, although low-key and maintaining a moderate stance on sensitive issues.  What I saw, was potential, tremendous and attainable potential.

Take a look at the detail of Gaza:

23. We are deeply concerned about the continued conflicts and instability in the Middle East
and North Africa (MENA) region. In this regard, we endorse the Joint Statement by
BRICS Deputy Foreign Ministers and Special Envoys at their meeting of 28 March 2025.

24. We reiterate our grave concern about the situation in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, with the resumption of continuous Israeli attacks against Gaza and obstruction of the entry of humanitarian aid into the territory. We call for adherence to international law, in particular to international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and condemn all violations of IHL, including the use of starvation as a method of warfare.

We also condemn attempts to politicize or militarize humanitarian assistance. We exhort the parties to engage in good faith in further negotiations to achieve an immediate, permanent and unconditional ceasefire, the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and all other parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the release of all hostages and detainees held in violation of international law, and sustained and unhindered access and delivery of humanitarian aid.

We reassert our steadfast support for UNRWA and stress the need to fully respect the mandate, bestowed on it by the UNGA, for the provision of basic services to Palestine refugees in its five fields of operations. We call on all relevant parties to respect their obligations under international law and act with utmost restraint and to avoid escalatory actions and provocative declarations. We note, in this regard, the provisional measures of the International Court of Justice in the legal proceedings instituted by South Africa against Israel, which, inter alia, reaffirmed Israel’s
legal obligation to ensure the provision of humanitarian aid in Gaza.

25. We recall that the Gaza Strip is an inseparable part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. We underline, in this regard, the importance of unifying the West Bank and the Gaza Strip under the Palestinian Authority, and reaffirm the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including the right to their independent State of Palestine.

26. We call on the international community to support the Palestinian Authority in
undergoing reforms to fulfill the Palestinians’ legitimate aspirations for independence and statehood, as well as the expeditious reconstruction of the civil infrastructure of the territory, with a central role by the Palestinians, as agreed in the Emergency Arab Summit on Palestine of 4 March 2025, and we note with appreciation the initiative to convene an upcoming pledging conference to be held in Cairo. We underscore that efforts to stabilize and rebuild Gaza must go hand in hand with a just and lasting political resolution of the protracted conflict. We express our firm opposition to the forced displacement, temporary or permanent, under any pretext, of any of the Palestinian population from the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as well as any geographic or demographic changes to the territory of the Gaza Strip. We reiterate that international law and international judicial bodies demand the end of the illegal occupation and the immediate cessation of all practices that undermine legal norms and obstruct a just and lasting peace.

27. We reaffirm that a just and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can only be achieved by peaceful means and depends on the fulfillment of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including the rights to self-determination and return. We reaffirm our support for the State of Palestine’s full membership in the United Nations in the context of the unwavering commitment to the two-state solution, in accordance with international law, including relevant UN Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, and the Arab Peace Initiative, that includes the establishment of a sovereign, independent and viable State of Palestine within the internationally recognized 1967 borders, which includes the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital, in order to achieve the vision of two States living side by side, in peace and security. We affirm the need for adequate representation of Palestine in all relevant international organizations, including multilateral financial institutions, and access to their resources. We welcome the continued efforts by BRICS members towards an urgent ceasefire, to accelerate the delivery of humanitarian aid and to achieve a lasting and sustainable peace in the region.

And then the document continues with the same level of detail for Lebanon, Syria, and Africa, highlighting the Sudan. They picked up Haiti, the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir and ended with the Bryansk, Kursk and Voronezh regions of the Russian Federation.

THERE IS NO BRICS MEMBER OR ANYONE ELSE (UNGA, UNSC, Israel itself or the US, THAT COULD HAVE A DOUBT OF WHAT BRICS AS A BLOC STANDS FOR in terms of the current situation.  We could criticise and say it was not stated strongly enough but calling on the provisional measures of the ICJ, covers that.

And this is the tone and the standard of the rest of the Declaration: detailed, no interpretation is required, and a clear statement of what the situation is and what the stance of BRICS as a bloc is.

This means that to attack BRICS, one by one, on any specific stance becomes very difficult. It is not some vague, loosy-goosy rules-based-international-order.

It is no secret that this Summit was highly slanted to economics and new financial structures.  The plans there utilize the NDB well, with Russia’s investment initiative, and it is bye-bye IMF. There were discussions with the IMF and World Bank days before the Kazan summit, and I know that the IMF was told to keep to its rules as it was outside of its own regulations. Sure, they did not, and now, it is bye-bye IMF, bye-bye World Bank, if I read the signs right.

Mr Lavrov picked this up when he said in his address how much money went from the World Bank and the IMF to Ukraine: subtext, there is not sufficient investment capital for the developing world, you’ve failed, and now we will do our own investment mechanisms.

“Given the Western double standards, its provision depends on political considerations. For example, in 2023 the IMF approved an unprecedented credit for Ukraine worth 15,6 billion dollars (577% of Ukraine’s country quota). It makes up more than a third of annual volume of all IMF programs. Since the beginning of 2022 the World Bank has pledged to allocate nearly 54 billion dollars for Ukraine. In total these sums allocated to Ukraine are twice as much as annual volumes of assignations allocated by the Bretton Woods structures to all countries of Africa.”

“The continued use of the IMF and WB to preserve neocolonial practices is unacceptable.”

What is most interesting now is that it appears to me as if BRICS at last has picked up its own momentum.

BRICS-related projects are being planned and hopefully executed by the community itself.  They are not waiting for anyone; instead, they take care of what needs to be done and do it.   China announced this morning that it will establish a China-BRICS research center on new quality productive forces this year.  They will also establish a scholarship for BRICS countries to facilitate talent development in sectors such as industry and telecommunications.

The summit emphasized BRICS as a development-focused platform rather than a confrontational bloc.  What this means is that they can gently laugh at Trump’s new threats to put 10% tariffs on all BRICS countries.  BRICS is now gaining influence.  The Declaration includes language on the proliferation of trade-restrictive actions, whether in the form of indiscriminate tariff increases and non-tariff measures, or protectionism under the guise of environmental objectives.  This is a threat that may reduce global trade, disrupt global supply chains, and introduce uncertainty into international economic and trade activities, potentially exacerbating existing economic disparities and affecting prospects for global economic development.

“We voice serious concerns about the rise of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures, which distort trade and
are inconsistent with WTO rules.”