Brazil hosts muted BRICS summit, to avoid provoking Trump’s ire
RIO DE JANEIRO—Brazil will play host to a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies on Sunday and Monday during which pressing topics like Israel’s attack on Iran, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and trade tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump are expected to be handled with caution.
Analysts and diplomats said the lack of cohesion in an enlarged BRICS, which doubled in size last year, may affect its ability to become another pole in world affairs. They also see the summit’s moderate agenda as an attempt by member countries to stay off Trump’s radar.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will have some of his priorities, such as debates on artificial intelligence and climate change, front and center for the talks with key leaders not in attendance.
China’s President Xi Jinping won’t attend a BRICS summit for the first time since he became his country’s leader in 2012. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will make an appearance via videoconference, continues to mostly avoid traveling abroad due to an international arrest warrant issued after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Keeping it ‘technical’
The restraint expected in Rio de Janeiro marks a departure from last year’s summit hosted by Russia in Kazan, when the Kremlin sought to develop alternatives to US-dominated payment systems which would allow it to dodge Western sanctions imposed after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
A source involved in the negotiations told journalists on Friday that some members of the group want more aggressive language on the situation in Gaza and Israel’s attack on Iran. The source spoke under the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the matter publicly.
“Brazil wants to keep the summit as technical as possible,” said Oliver Stuenkel, a professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation think tank and university.
Consequently, observers expect a vague final declaration regarding Russia’s war in Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East.
Watered-down
As well as suiting Brazil, a watered-down and noncontroversial statement may be made easier by the absences of Putin and Xi, Stuenkel said. Those two countries have pushed for a stronger anti-Western stance, as opposed to Brazil and India that prefer nonalignment.
João Alfredo Nyegray, an international business and geopolitics professor at the Pontifical Catholic University in Parana, said the summit could have played a role in showing an alternative to an unstable world, but won’t do so.
“The withdrawal of Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and the uncertainty about the level of representation for countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are confirming the difficulty for the BRICS to establish themselves as a cohesive pole of global leadership,” Nyegray said.
Brazil, the country that chairs the bloc, has picked six strategic priorities for the summit: global cooperation in health care; trade, investment and finance; climate change; governance for artificial intelligence; peace-making and security; and institutional development.
It has decided to focus on less controversial issues, such as promoting trade relations between members and global health, after Trump returned to the White House, said Ana Garcia, a professor at the Rio de Janeiro Federal Rural University.
