2023-08-22 10:28:02
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin will be noted when his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and other leaders of the BRICS group of emerging economies begin a three-day summit in South Africa on Tuesday.
The bloc, made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, holds its first in-person meeting since before the COVID-19 pandemic, but Putin will intervene via videoconference after the arrest warrant issued in March by the Criminal Court International for the kidnapping of children from Ukraine complicated his trip.
Xi, the Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva; Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will attend in person as the bloc — which accounts for 40% of the world’s population and more than 30% of global economic output — ponders a possible expansion.
That issue will top the agenda at the main summit meeting on Wednesday in Sandton, Johannesburg’s financial district. More than 20 nations have applied to join the bloc, according to South African officials, including Saudi Arabia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
The five member countries will have to agree on criteria for new partners before admission, but China and Russia are seen as favoring expansion amid deteriorating relations with the West.
The BRICS group was founded in 2009 by Brazil, Russia, India and China. South Africa joined a year later.
South African Trade and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel officially opened the summit on Tuesday by welcoming the 1,200 delegates from the five participating nations and dozens of other developing countries. More than 40 heads of state are expected to attend the three-day summit, according to Ramaphosa.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that Putin will fully participate despite appearing virtually and will deliver a speech. In South Africa, Russia will also be represented by its Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov.
United Nations Secretary General António Guterres is scheduled to attend the summit.
The summit officially kicked off with a business forum on Tuesday morning, with Xi, Lula, Modi and Ramaphosa expected to arrive at the Sandton Convention Center for the first leaders’ meeting in the afternoon. In the evening they will hold a retreat in the luxurious Summer Place development, in the Hyde Park suburb of the city.
Xi, who has gradually resumed foreign travel after the end of Beijing’s strict coronavirus protocol, will meet Ramaphosa for a state visit in the South African capital Pretoria on Tuesday morning.
It will then travel 60 kilometers (37 miles) through Gauteng province, the economic heart of the country, to the summit in Johannesburg.
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