Brussels - Capitals: Europe and the Arabs - Agencies
  The various media paid attention to what came in an article published by the British newspaper "The Guardian", in which it shed light on the "BRICS" summit, which kicks off today in South Africa, and whose members include Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, indicating that the leaders of the member states seek during their current summit to Reducing the dominance of the US dollar in global commercial transactions. According to the Middle East News Agency
The author of the article, Jason Burke, pointed out that the BRICS leaders are also seeking, during their summit, to expand the membership of the group to include other countries, pointing out that the bloc of developing countries already includes nearly half of the world's population.
The writer said that the summit, which begins today, aims to strengthen the capabilities of the group in confronting the Western blocs, noting that many leaders of other countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East will participate in today's summit, which is being hosted by Johannesburg.
He pointed out that the summit will be attended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazilian President Lula de Silva, as well as the host country's president, Cyril Ramaphosa, indicating that Russia will be represented by its Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The article added that the summit will witness relentless efforts by the member states, whose economies represent nearly 25 percent of the world's economies, towards strengthening economic cooperation in the face of interference by the United States and Western countries in the affairs of other countries around the world.
The article highlighted the statements of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa the day before yesterday, Sunday, in which he declared that his country would not be dragged into a conflict between the major powers and that it seeks to form a world free of polarization and competing camps.. stressing that his country's decision not to take sides in any of the parties to the international conflict does not mean that it is Adopt a neutral position with regard to matters affecting the national interest.
The article indicated that the moves towards undermining the dominance of the US dollar in global trade transactions will contribute to enabling Russia to confront the sanctions imposed by Western countries on it in the wake of the Russian special operation launched by Moscow on Ukraine in late February of last year.
The article also pointed to China's efforts during the summit to expand the membership of the assembly to include more developing countries in order to expand its sphere of influence and strengthen its efforts aimed at forming an economic power that has the ability to compete with the United States on the international arena.
In this regard, the writer sheds light on the statements of the Chinese ambassador to South Africa, Chen Ziyadong, last week in Pretoria, in which he said that the current system that prevails in the world has become dysfunctional and useless, as it has become tainted by many deficiencies, explaining that the BRICS group has become a striking force for it. Its weight in defending international justice.
In the same context, the "Voice of America" report stated that Russia and China are looking forward to gaining more political and economic ground in the developing world at the fifteenth BRICS summit to be held tomorrow in South Africa. The report stated that the leaders of the economic bloc of the "BRICS" group in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will hold meetings within three days in Johannesburg, with the presence of Chinese President Xi Jinping to confirm that his country's investments in the "BRICS" over the past decade have become a paved way to achieve country ambition.
The report indicated that Russian President Vladimir Putin will appear via video link, while Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will attend the summit alongside the President of China.
The report expects that the main outputs of the summit on Wednesday - and the side meetings on Tuesday and Thursday - will result in general calls for more cooperation between the countries of the Global South amid their growing dissatisfaction with Western hegemony of global institutions, explaining that this is a feeling that pleases Russia and China, as leaders or representatives of dozens of countries attend. Developing side meetings.
The report pointed out that the BRICS Summit, in its 15th edition, will discuss the proposed expansion of the bloc, which was formed in 2009 by emerging market countries in Brazil, Russia, India and China, and South Africa joined the bloc the following year.
The report stated that South Africa confirmed the desire of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is one of more than 20 countries that have officially applied to join the "BRICS" group in another possible expansion, while the report considered that any move towards including the second largest oil producer in the world (Saudi Arabia) in An economic bloc with Russia and China would clearly catch the attention of the United States and its allies in a very complex geopolitical climate.
Talmiz Ahmed, India's former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, said: "If Saudi Arabia joins the BRICS group, it will bring extraordinary importance to this grouping."
According to the report, analysts say that even agreement on the principle of expanding the BRICS, which already consists of a large part of the largest economies of the developing world, is a victory for the Russian and Chinese vision of the bloc, in contrast to the Group of Seven, as both prefer to add more countries to strengthen some kind of alliance - even if It was only symbolic - in the midst of the economic spat between China, the United States and Russia in a Cold War-like confrontation with the West over the Ukraine crisis.
The report referred to the desire of other countries to join the BRICS, such as: Egypt, Argentina, Algeria, Iran, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates, while Professor Alexis Habyaremi of the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Johannesburg believes that if a number of heavyweight countries join, "it will end up with a larger economic bloc that feels strong."
Chen Xiaodong, Chinese ambassador to South Africa, says: 

BRICS expansion is the most popular issue at the moment... Enlargement is the key to enhancing the vitality of the BRICS mechanism... I believe that this year's summit will see a new and powerful step on this front."

In a parallel context, the United States has stressed its bilateral relations with South Africa, Brazil and India in an attempt to offset any huge Russian and Chinese influence emanating from the BRICS group, as the State Department confirmed that Washington is "deeply engaged with many prominent members of the BRICS Union."
On a related note, the European Union is closely following the events taking place in Johannesburg, but with almost the sole focus on the Ukrainian crisis file and the bloc's continuing efforts to unify condemnation of the Russian invasion by the developing world, and European Commission spokesman Peter Stano says that the European Union invites leaders of the rally BRICS to seize the moment to support international law.
The report predicted that after halting a deal allowing passage of grain from Ukraine last month, the Russian president may use the BRICS grouping to announce more free Russian grain shipments to developing countries, as a show of "goodwill" to the developing world.
The report touched on the BRICS Summit dealing with the challenges facing countries due to the dominance of the dollar in the global economy and its repercussions on developing countries and the possibility of trade exchange in local currencies, which observers considered a matter far from reach and makes the world more complex.