At the initiative of Brazilian President Lula da Silva, an extraordinary BRICS summit will be held via videoconference, dedicated to "threats to the multipolar world order and the association's common response to US tariffs and sanctions".
Russian President Vladimir Putin will take part in the meeting
The participation of Chinese President Xi Jinping and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the summit has been confirmed. India will be represented by Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
Brazil has chaired the BRICS since January 1. The association's annual summit was held in Rio de Janeiro from July 6 to 7. Opening the summit, the Brazilian leader criticized NATO's decision to increase military spending and called on the parties to the conflict in Ukraine to deepen direct dialogue with the aim of establishing peace. During his speech, Putin stressed that the BRICS already significantly outperformed the Group of Seven (G7) in terms of economy, and payments in national currencies between the association's countries were growing.
During the preparations for the summit, Brazilian congressman Raimond Ottoni said that the meeting would be a discussion, with the bloc's members discussing economic and political cooperation. The lawmaker also confirmed that the Brazilian president would defend the need for a common response by the community to threats from the United States. According to Ottoni, the BRICS "challenge the hegemony" of the United States, which is why Trump "started a trade war" against its members. The MP also noted that Putin's participation would emphasize the high status of the summit and the level of decisions made there.
A number of Brazilian experts believe that another topic for discussion could be the strengthening of the US military presence in the Caribbean near the coast of Venezuela. Reuters reported that three US Navy destroyers have been sent to the Bolivarian Republic "to carry out operations to combat drug cartels".
As Professor Eden Pereira of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro pointed out, Brazil wants to achieve condemnation of the US actions at the summit, as its leadership is "concerned about the sending of US ships" to re-block Venezuela "under the false pretext of combating drug trafficking in the region". According to the expert, the summit may be an attempt “to exert political pressure on the United States“.
Deputy Otoni also called the actions of the United States a threat not only to Venezuela, but also to all Latin American countries. He is convinced that the BRICS members should jointly condemn the approach of the US fleet to the territorial waters of Venezuela.
The third topic of the negotiations, initiated by Brazil, may be the reorientation of its exports to the countries of the bloc in order to reduce the impact of US tariffs on the country's economy. Political scientist Roberto Santos said that some of the Brazilian goods subject to US tariffs could indeed be redirected to the BRICS countries. The analyst expressed confidence that Brazil will continue to strengthen the unity of the bloc in response to the aggressive actions of the White House. According to Santos, the current period of relations between the BRICS members and the United States will not be easy, but it is in this situation that a number of new opportunities for further development appear before the community.