By holding the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, Putin aims to show the US and its allies that he has not become a global outcast. According to Bloomberg, the Kremlin expects representatives from more than 30 countries to attend the summit. Amid the Russian military offensive in Ukraine and growing war-weariness among some of Kyiv’s allies, Moscow is using the opportunity to portray Putin as a man who stands up to the West.
It is noted that the BRICS group is divided on efforts to reduce dependence on the dollar. Moscow wants to eliminate the dollar in cross-border payments between the BRICS countries, but the other countries have different incentives to abandon the dollar system.
There is no unity in the organization regarding expansion. India and some other countries fear the transformation of the group into an anti-American association dominated by Russia and China. Countries ranging from Malaysia and Thailand to Nicaragua and even NATO member Turkey seek to join BRICS, although an expansion agreement is unlikely to be reached at the Summit.