Controversial Russian President, Vladimir Putin, claims that the crisis in Ukraine was caused by the Western leaders’ attempt to preserve hegemony.
Putin took a swipe at the West in his virtual address at the BRICS summit’s open plenary session at the Sandton Convention Centre on Wednesday.
World leaders have descended on Africa’s richest square mile, in a bid to foster sustainable development in the emerging economies and an equitable world order.
The Russian President is not in physical attendance in the wake of an International Criminals Court (ICC) warrant against him for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
South Africa as a signatory of the Rome Statute would have been obliged to carry out the warrant and handcuff Putin, something that Ramaphosa made clear would have been a declaration of war.
“Our actions in Ukraine are guided by only one thing – to put an end to the war unleashed by the west and their satellites in Ukraine against the people living in Donbass,” says Putin.
The Russian President also used his address to appreciate the efforts by the BRICS nations in trying to bring an end to the conflict.
Putin also spoke strongly against the hegemony, which he says led to the dire crisis in Ukraine.
“The aspiration to preserve the hegemony in the world led to a dire crisis in Ukraine at first with the help of western countries and then the constitutional coup was carried out in this country, after that those people who did not agree with this coup faced a war, a war was unleashed against them.”
He says Russia decided to support people that fight for their culture, traditions, language and their future.
“We are against any hegemony, the notion of exceptionalism promoted by some nations, and the policy of neocolonialism derived from that claim.”
In his opening address, President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed concern over the ongoing conflicts across the world.
“As South Africa, our position remains that diplomacy, dialogue, negotiation and adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter are necessary for the peaceful and just resolution of conflicts.”
Ramaphosa also stressed the importance of peace and stability as preconditions for a better and more equitable world.
“We are concerned that global financial and payments systems are increasingly being used as instruments of geopolitical contestation.”
The BRICS Summit is set to conclude on Thursday. However leaders seem to be stuck on the matter of the looming membership expansion.
Twenty four countries have formally applied to be a part of the BRICS bloc.
South Africa became the first beneficiary of the expansion when they were added to the alliance in 2010.
Together, the BRICS nations account for more than 40% of the world population and a quarter of the global economy.
Algeria, Egypt, Cuba, Thailand and Iran are among the aspiring member countries.
Some analysts say the existing BRICS countries need to have a clear and concise criterion when considering the expansion, such as the socio-economic situations in those aspiring countries.
While Brazil, China, India and South Africa fully support the expansion, Russia has been mum on its stance on the matter, however, has not publicly opposed the idea. Article by Lindiwe Mpanza
Written by: Lindiwe Mabena
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