The BRICS countries call for a “rebalancing” of the global system.. and Lavrov confirms the discussion of the issue of Saudi Arabia’s acceptance of the alliance

The foreign ministers of the BRICS countries, who met Thursday in the Cape, before a summit scheduled for August, whose preparations are dominated by the question of whether Vladimir Putin will come to South Africa or not, called for a "rebalancing" of the global system.

The BRICS countries include South Africa, Brazil, China, India and Russia.

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said at the start of the meeting, "The multipolar world is rebalancing and the old methods cannot handle the new situations."

For her part, South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said, "Our discussions today will focus on opportunities to strengthen and transform global governance systems."

Pretoria has long called for the BRICS countries to create balance in a world system dominated by the West.

In response to a question by journalists about the Russian president's attendance at the summit in August, the minister confirmed that "an invitation was extended to each of the five heads of state."

Pandor added that the South African government, which has not taken a position on the possible arrest of the Russian president, is studying "legal options."

Putin has been issued an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court for the "deportation" of Ukrainian children as part of Moscow's attack on Ukraine.

In theory, as a member of the International Criminal Court, South Africa is supposed to arrest the Russian president if he enters its territory. But the two countries maintain close relations.

Pretoria refuses to condemn Moscow since the start of the war on Ukraine, stressing that it takes a neutral position and prefers dialogue to resolve the crisis, which raises concern in the international arena.

In April, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for Putin put South Africa "in a difficult position".

This week, the South African government granted diplomatic immunity to officials who attended the BRICS summit, saying it was standard procedure for organizing international conferences.

On the other hand, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced today, Thursday, that the issue of accepting Saudi Arabia into the BRICS alliance had already been discussed.

Lavrov told reporters, after a meeting of the BRICS Council of Foreign Ministers, that the foreign ministers of the BRICS countries had already discussed the issue of accepting Saudi Arabia into the group.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said earlier today that "the issue of BRICS expansion will be discussed" during the ministerial meeting in Cape Town.

"There are many strong candidates to join BRICS, and Saudi Arabia is one of them," Ryabkov added.

He continued, "We support their candidacy unconditionally, and will do everything we can to ensure that the process of developing criteria for accepting new members is not delayed."

Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously announced that Russia would continue to develop relations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the bilateral and multilateral levels, indicating that Moscow supports Riyadh's accession to the BRICS alliance.

During the last summit (2022), Argentina and Iran formally submitted their applications to join BRICS, a move strongly supported by Russia and China.

And the “BRICS” group is a bloc that includes Russia, China, Brazil, South Africa and India. It was founded in 2006, at a summit hosted by the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, and its name changed from “BRICS” to BRICS in 2011, after South Africa joined it. This international group aims to increase economic relations. between them in local currencies, which reduces dependence on the dollar.