In South Africa, leaders from the BRICS (Brazil, Russian, India, China, South Africa) bloc have gathered for the 15th summit, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attending in place of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin’s absence follows the South African government’s signal that it is being pressured to enforce the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to seek his arrest. In a remote address, Putin emphasized that de-dollarization is “gaining momentum” and the dollar’s receding global centrality is a process that is “objective and irreversible.” Putin claims BRICS members are becoming the new world economic leaders, noting that BRICS accounts for 31% of the global economy in terms of purchasing power compared to G7’s 30%. Although rumblings that many countries, including Russia, want to end the dollar’s dominance, the Financial Times reports that a common currency is not on the agenda.
