Russian President Vladimir Putin told a meeting of BRICS leaders on Wednesday that Russia is “actively redirecting its trade flows” to the BRICS countries as Moscow is facing Western sanctions.
BRICS is an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, which together represent more than 40% of the world’s population. Russia’s BRICS partners have not followed the US-led sanctions campaign, and some have stepped up Russian oil imports as Western countries have been banning the commodity.
China, the world’s largest oil importer, has significantly increased its purchase of Russian oil, resulting in Russia overtaking Saudi Arabia as Beijing’s top oil supplier. In May, China imported 1.98 million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian crude, an increase of 55% from May last year. Asia has also outpaced Europe as the largest buyer of Russian oil.
Speaking to a BRICS business forum by video link, Putin denounced “the permanent implementation of new politically motivated sanctions” by the US and its allies.
“Businessmen of our countries are forced to develop their business under difficult conditions where Western partners neglect the basic principles of market economy, free trade, as well as the inviolability of private property,” Putin said.
The Russian leader called for the BRICS nations to increase ties and said Russia is developing an alternative “international reserve currency” to reduce dependence on the dollar and euro.
At the same forum, Chinese President Xi Jinping denounced “expanding military alliances” as the US is trying to rally allies against Beijing in the Asia Pacific. “History has shown that hegemony, group politics and confrontations between blocs bring neither peace nor stability, but war and conflict,” he said.
“History has shown that hegemony, group politics and confrontations between blocs bring neither peace nor stability, but war and conflict,” is a polite way to describe the truth. Not likely to be heard by the west, which thinks they are morally superior and higher cost of living is the price of “freedom.” If it were not a tragedy, it would be a comedy.
Getting lectured on capitalism by the Russians and Chinese … the room is spinning. Maybe next Biden will give a speech on class struggle and the dictatorship of the proletariat.
By their actions, the US and EU are cutting themselves off from their own markets. Markets that China, and to a lesser extent India, will be only too happy to serve. The West is rich and technologically advanced, but there are limits to what they can sell to each other. This could be the start of a downward spiral. With China as the world’s leading supplier of everything manufactured, and Russia the world’s leading supplier of raw materials and commodities, the BRICs nations really don’t NEED the West for anything. It’s stupid for the West to give them the opportunity to learn this.
Russia has the nukes that China doesn’t.
It looks like some countries have chosen their friends wisely and do not allow fear of blackmail to change their behaviour. The West has instead done all it can to ruin its own prosperity, just out of spite and hatred.
The US and Europe set out to ruin Russia’s economy. Now, they are trying to blame Russia for the impact of their own sanctions in an effort to avoid the political retribution of their own voters.
But the worst may be yet to come. Western sanctions have caused inflation and shortages for themselves and, as a practical matter, subsidized India, China, and the other BRICS+ countries. The world is realigning itself in ways that could seriously undermine the US Dollar, the Eurodollar, and existing trade agreements.
We are so much closer to WWIII. The US gov’t has too much hubris and pride, probably stupidity as well to negotiate a way out of this proxy war. Just remember: Pride cometh before the fall.
I think we are already in WW III. So does the Pope!
Inflation was raging at 7% in America before February 24, 2022.
Yes. And it’s getting worse – May 22/May 21: 8.6%! And that doesn’t count the increase that was already occurring a year ago. May 22 over April 21: 9.4%
https://www.bls.gov/regions/mid-atlantic/data/consumerpriceindexhistorical1967base_us_table.htm?fbclid=IwAR0v8kiLefu2XNMRm5wPH6-bpdvjDxL9CNBVTr4IS00IIqHtXlLLjJUueY0
So we have punished our own citizens with monstrous gas prices and inflation and helped the non-western world not on board with sanctions to obtain cheap energy. Excellent. What a well thought-out plan. Bravo hawks.
India and China between them have eight times (8x) the US population. The EU alone has two thirds more population than the US.
Both China and the EU already exceed the US in purchasing power parity economic calculation. The US per capita economic advantage is mostly in “soft” items like financial services and insurance and selling coffee or burgers; it long since has not been hard power useful for international control contests.
The US is not declining. That was 20 years ago. The US has declined.
The US is now in the position of the Spanish Empire, when it exhausted its remaining advantages in endless wars it could not (did not) win.
Could Spain have revived its advantages to a longer Golden Age if better managed? Maybe.
Could the US? It seems today to be no more likely to try than was Old Spain.
astute observations
Agreed. To reverse decline, we have to be capable of honest self-reflection. We don’t do honest self-reflection as a country. Each side doubles down in fear of being criticized for being weak, prints more money, and starts more wars. Ray McGovern in his latest article shared the following: “Two lemmings are chatting while standing in the line to the cliff. One says to the other, ‘Of course we have to go over the edge. Anything else would dishonor all the lemmings that have gone before us.’”
https://original.antiwar.com/mcgovern/2022/06/20/lithuanians-stick-new-finger-in-eye-of-russian-bear/