Russia had high hopes for the BRICS summit in Kazan, but the results
did not meet expectations. Ihor Tyshkevych, an expert at the Institute
for the Future, said this in a commentary to the Russian media.
For Russia, it was important to demonstrate “support” from the summit
participants and resolve several key issues:
I. Bypassing sanctions and creating an economic system based on BRICS
“This idea did not find support among the participants. The parties
confined themselves to announcing an increase in mutual lending in
national currencies, which is already part of the policy of China,
India and South Africa to strengthen their own currencies and
political influence. The dreams of creating a “new digital currency” have not been realized – the BRICS partners are not interested in such
initiatives of the Kremlin,” -the report says.
II. Expansion of BRICS to strengthen the influence of Russia
“Russia has been trying to attract new members who will vote in BRICS
in sync with it. However, on the eve of the summit, Kazakhstan stated
that membership in BRICS is not a priority at this stage. Other
countries in the region have also been cautious about this idea,”
Tyshkevich said.
III. Support in the war against Ukraine
“The final document of the summit stated the inadmissibility of
scaling up the war. This can be interpreted as an unwillingness to
spread hostilities to the territory of Russia. It is important to take
into account Russia’s approach of “escalation for the sake of
de-escalation” in order to exchange concessions on minor issues for
more important aspects during possible negotiations. This wording
looks unpleasant for Putin,” – the expert emphasized.
The Crimean Tatar Resource Center considers the results of the BRICS
summit in Kazan as another example of the lack of international
support for Russia in its war of aggression against Ukraine. Despite
all the Kremlin’s attempts to gain “support” in this format, most of
the participating countries have demonstrated their unwillingness to
support the Russian Federation.