BRICS leaders are convening in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil for a two-day summit during which pressing topics like Israel's attack on Iran, the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and trade tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump are expected to be handled with caution.
Analysts and diplomats have 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.
Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has some of his priorities, such as debates on artificial intelligence and climate change, front and centre for the talks with key leaders not in attendance.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has skipped the meeting for the first time since his rise to power in 2012, citing scheduling conflicts. The 72-year-old Chinese leader has instead sent Prime Minister Li Qiang to represent Beijing in his place.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is also not in attendance to avoid arrest amid a pending warrant from the International Criminal Court – which Brazil is a member of – according to the Kremlin. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is in attendance, while Putin delivered an address via video link to the assembly.
Lula said in his speech on Sunday that “we are witnessing the unparalleled collapse of multilateralism” and that the meeting is taking place “in the most adverse global scenario” of the four times Brazil has hosted it. He called for the group to promote peace and mediate conflicts.
“If international governance does not reflect the new multipolar reality of the 21st century, it is up to the BRICS to contribute to its renovation,” added Lula in his opening remarks.
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, allowing it to dodge Western sanctions imposed after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The summit is expected to produce three joint statements, according to sources involved in the negotiations. Leaders are preparing to potentially endorse texts on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza which has been under Israeli attack since early October 2023.
The BRICS leaders are also expected to produce joint statements on Israel’s attacks on Iran as well as a vague final declaration regarding Moscow’s war in Ukraine and other conflicts in the Middle East.
Brazil, the country that chairs the bloc, has picked six strategic priorities for the summit: global cooperation in healthcare; trade, investment and finance; climate change; governance for artificial intelligence; peace-making and security; and institutional development.
For Lula, the summit is a welcome pause from a difficult domestic scenario, marked by a drop in popularity and conflict with Congress.
The meeting also represents an opportunity to advance climate negotiations and commitments on protecting the environment before November's COP 30 climate talks in the Brazil’s northern Amazonian city of Belem.
