The BRICS are tackling their expansion in South Africa with Putin’s controversial absence

The group of emerging economies BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) will begin this Tuesday in Johannesburg XV Summit of Heads of State and Government to address, among other things, the expansion of the bloc and the controversial absence of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

The conference, which will be held until next Thursday at the Sandton Convention Center, the financial heart of the South African city, is the first in-person BRICS summit since 2019a period when these meetings were held via video conference due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Brazil’s presidents, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva; China, Xi Jinping; and South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa; as well as the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modithey will be able to greet each other with a handshake, but Putin will not suffer that fate.

The Russian president will be absent due to the deposit issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against him for alleged war crimes in Ukrainealthough he will intervene electronically and will be represented by his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.

In addition, South Africa has invited 67 leaders from the South to the event, including the presidents of Cuba, Miguel Diaz Caneland Bolivia, Louis Arce.

Although few details are known about the agenda of the meeting, it is expected that there will be block extension be the star theme.

The group is also expected to address the issues de-dollarization of their economiesThat is, the impulse of local currencies to trade at the expense of the dollar, a position backed by the New Development Bank (NDB), founded by the BRICS in 2015.