This weekend’s BRICS summit in Brazil put a spotlight on the growing internal divisions within the bloc of developing nations.
About half of the group’s leaders, including China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, didn’t attend the gathering. While BRICS has expanded from five members — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — to 11 in the last two years, the additions have brought fresh points of contention, and perhaps diluted its clout.
Delegates avoided any controversial subjects that might trigger Washington’s ire, analysts said.
A joint declaration condemning tariffs refrained from naming US President Donald Trump, and mentioned Ukraine only once. It marked a contrast from last year’s gathering in Russia, where the Kremlin pushed for alternatives to US-dominated financial systems.