New countries have joined BRICS: can they support Russia in the war?

The international economic union BRICS, which includes the aggressor country Russia, five states joined on January 1, 2024. In particular, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Ethiopia.

Of course, Vladimir Putin is trying to show that he is not isolated and that there are supposedly countries in the world that want to communicate with the aggressor. However, BRICS is not about a policy of supporting Russia; first of all, it is about economic policy and China, which is the leader of the bloc. Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the OPU, spoke about this Channel 24.

How Russia uses BRICS

All countries are interested in the growth of their economies and the stabilization of national currencies. This also applies to European countries. At the same time, Russia traditionally uses one format or another to propagate its positions.

Moscow knows how to use propaganda tools much more effectively. That is, he says more than he actually does or influences certain processes,” Podolyak noted.

According to him, countries wishing to join BRICS are seeking a more secure financial future. They believe that this way they will have a stronger position regarding communications at the level of the European Union, the United States and access to technology markets.

Russia is using the BRICS theme for political purposes. At a time when almost all members of this collective body do not need it. BRICS members mainly talk about stabilizing their national economies.

I would be calm about this. Countries joining BRICS have exclusively economic interests. This is definitely not about supporting Russia,” said the adviser to the head of the OPU.

He noted that now there are actually no countries directly supporting Russia, despite Iran, North Korea, etc. . Another consequence of the Russian-Ukrainian war is that there is no significant support for Russia at the political level.

The Russians are nervous, because they did not expect that:

• Ukraine will resist, hold out and have a chance to win;
• European countries will not behave as usual;
• the world will distance itself from Russia and will not support calls for ending the war on the Kremlin’s terms.

Russia now understands that the longer the war continues, the greater the chances that the terrorist country will truly be isolated.

More about Russia's international cooperation

• Russian negotiations with Iran on the acquisition of short-range ballistic missiles are actively progressing. The United States is concerned that the aggressor country will be able to obtain new weapons in the spring of 2024.
• Russia at the beginning of 2024 increased the volume of natural gas supplies to China. We are talking about a resource that China receives through the Power of Siberia gas pipeline.