PUTIN TO TAKE PART IN BRICS SUMMIT IN BRAZIL JULY 15
Voice of Russia
Today Russian President Vladimir Putin will take part in the summit of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) opening in Fortaleza in the north-east of Brazil, reports TASS.The Russian president will arrive in Fortaleza from the capital Brasilia in the evening local time (at night Moscow time) to immediately take part in a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jingpin and to meet the new Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi who replaced Manmohan Singh in that position in May this year.
The summit is to open in the evening Moscow time. The leaders of the BRICS countries will discuss political issues and global management problems. A number of important economic documents are expected to be signed, such as the establishment of a BRICS development bank and a currency reserves pool. Russian president's aide Yuri Ushakov said that thus "the foundation for a macroeconomic coordination of the five countries will be laid." "The new institutions will allow to consolidate the global financial system, which is especially important on the background of the IMF reform that has hit a dead end," the Kremlin representative said.
Ushakov said that the BRICS development bank's main office will be in Shanghai.
The BRICS leaders will pay special attention to international issues and regional security problems, including the situation in Syria and Afghanistan, the settlement of the Middle East problems and the crisis in Ukraine. "The leaders of the five countries stand for the settlement of conflicts politically and diplomatically, they reject the policy of sanctions, power games and infringing on countries' sovereignty," the Russian president's aide stressed.
Summarizing the results of the first day of the summit, it is planned to adopt a Fortaleza Declaration and roadmap estimating the current global political and economic situation and reflecting the BRICS countries' common approach to topical issues of international cooperation.
On the second day, 16 July, the summit will be continued in the Brazilian capital Brasilia.
BRICS should confront harassment of US-opposing states - Putin
Vladimir Putin urges BRICS nations not to allow 'bulling' of those states who disagree with the policy of the US and its allies.
"One more important question we are going to raise at the summit is the increasing cases of unilateral sanctions," - said Vladimir Putin
On the eve of BRICS summit he told Itar-Tass in an interview that he was going to discuss with his BRICS partners the sanctions the US has imposed on Russia.
It is time to raise the BRICS' role to a new level
"One more important question we are going to raise at the summit is the increasing cases of unilateral sanctions. Recently Russia has been exposed to a sanction attack from the United States and its allies", he said.
Putin stressed that Russia was grateful to its BRICS partners who had criticized such practices in different forms. However, he insists that "substantive conclusions should be drawn from the current situation."
"Together we should think about a system of measures that would help prevent the harassment of countries that do not agree with some foreign policy decisions made by the United States and their allies, but would promote a civilized dialogue on all points at issue based on mutual respect," he told Itar-Tass.
There will be no military-political alliance on the basis of BRICS - Putin
"The modern world is, indeed, multipolar, complex and dynamic and this is an objective reality. And attempts to build a model of international relations, in which all the decisions are made by one "side" is ineffective, and it fails. These models are ultimately doomed to failure," said the President . "That's why it is not a coincidence that the format of interaction, proposed by Russia between such powerful states, such as BRICS members, was in demand. And our joint work actually enhances the predictability and stability of international relations."
Vladimir Putin stated that it is very important for BRICS countries to use to their maximum advantage the complementary national economics.
"We are talking about the market with nearly three billion consumers," said the president. "Now with the Russian initiative, Economic Cooperation Development Strategy between five countries is being developed, which will focus on the creation of preconditions for active economic development and strengthening of the international competitiveness of our countries, the expansion and diversification of trade relations, providing synergies for innovative growth. A number of prospective cooperation projects have been created in addition to the strategy.
"As you know, all BRICS economics are in serious need of upgrading of their infrastructure," reminded the president of Russia. "Our initiative to establish the Development Bank is directed to enhance cooperation in this field. We have made a considerable progress in this direction since last year's summit in Durban. We expect that in the near future we will reach an agreement on all remaining issues and will be able to use the potential of the Bank for major projects in our countries."
Development Bank and BRICS foreign currency reserves pool
Russia's President Vladimir Putin expects BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) to create not only the Development Bank, but also foreign currency reserves pool.
"In the near future, we expect to finalize all the remaining issues and we will be able to use this Bank's potential to realize major projects in our countries," he told Itar-Tass in an interview ahead of the BRICS summit.
The president said that creation of a BRICS pool of foreign currency reserves was also underway. He called it 'a safety net' that would help form a joint response to economic challenges.
"Our initiative to establish the Development Bank is aimed at expanding cooperation in this sphere," he said, as he believes that all the BRICS economies need serious infrastructure modernization.
He emphasized that both the Development Bank and the foreign currency reserves pool are practical steps for BRICS countries, intended to strengthen international financial architecture and to make it more balanced and just.
Earlier, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told the media that an agreement on creation of the Development Bank and foreign currency reserves pool is ready to be signed at the BRICS summit in Brazilian resort Fortaleza on July 15-16. The bank will be involved in infrastructure projects on the BRICS nations' soil in the first place. The authorized, dedicated and paid in capitals will amount to 100, 50 and 10 billion US dollars respectively. The latter will be formed within seven years.