Russia says countries that join BRICS can’t participate in unilateral sanctions

 Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has announced a major condition that will apply to all countries that are interested in joining the BRICS+ economic coalition of nations.

At a Moscow press conference this week, Ryabkov asserted: “For us, one of the key criteria for admission to BRICS and welcoming partner states is non-participation…in the illegal sanctions policies, illegal restrictive measures against any BRICS participant, first of all, of course, against Russia.”

Although this appears to be largely a Russian initiative, Ryabkov pointed out that the other BRICS+ members share a “full understanding” of their position. This is something that will be part of the bloc’s “core nature” as it expands in the future.

BRICS, which was founded by Russia along with Brazil, India and China in 2006, has been expanding in recent years, adding South Africa, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Iran and Ethiopia to the coalition. Despite the expansion, they have chosen to keep their original name and have added a plus at the end to accommodate the new additions and expected future additions, which means its current iteration is referred to as BRICS+.

The diplomat explained that the countries making up BRICS+ are working well together as a team and have “adjusted” to one another. Several other countries have gone on the record with their desire to join the group, with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim saying over the weekend that his country intends to file the paperwork needed to join in the near future. Malaysia has asked China to support its bid. 

More than 40 other countries have also expressed an interest in joining.

“The fact that BRICS will grow and find new forms both with partners and in terms of its own expansion is indisputable,” Ryabkov added.

BRICS+ expansion threatens dollar dominance

The expansion of BRICS poses a direct threat to the dominance of the U.S. dollar as well as the efficacy of Western sanctions.

Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) warned what might happen as the coalition grows: “If current trends continue, it will become harder and harder for the United States to prevent international violence and oppression through sanctions.”

BRICS+ has already surpassed the G7 group of nations in terms of GDP when purchasing power parity is taken into account. There are some complications, such as the vastly different economies among individual nations making up the coalition and governments that often have diverging foreign policy goals, but the countries are united in their desire to move away from the U.S. dollar.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced that BRICS nations have been working on a payment platform that will empower them to move away from the American dollar, and they have been moving toward conducting more trade and lending using their national currencies. The country has made no secret of its desire to move its trading partners away from using dollars for trade due to sanctions from America and its allies.

Not much information is available about the system they are developing, but observers believe it could be a digital currency that allows central banks to deal directly with local currency transactions, which is something Lavrov has mentioned to the media the past.

Many BRICS+ nations fear they could find themselves shut out of the world’s dollar-based financial systemif they are hit with sanctions and are working hard to diversity their assets.

However, even without their own currency, they can still do a lot of damage to the dollar. Former White House economist Joe Sullivan warned: "The BRICS+ states do not even necessarily need to have a shared trade currency to chip away at King Dollar's domain. If BRICS+ demanded that you pay each member in its own national currency in order to trade with any of them, the dollar's role in the world economy would go down.”