RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil: The foreign ministers of Brazil, China, Russia and other BRICS members began two days of talks in Rio de Janeiro Monday aimed at forging a united front to US President Donald Trump\u2019s aggressive trade policies.
\nThe meeting comes at a critical moment for the world economy after the International Monetary Fund slashed growth forecasts over the impact of the US leader\u2019s sweeping new tariffs.
\nTop diplomats from the 11-member bloc \u2014 which includes Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates \u2014 met to hone their agenda ahead of a July leaders summit.
\nBrazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira stressed the importance of dialogue at a time of \u201chumanitarian crises, armed conflicts, political instability and the erosion of multilateralism.\u201d
\nBRICS\u2019s \u201crole as a group is more important than ever,\u201d he said.
\nTrump, since returning to the White House in January, has hit dozens of countries with a blanket 10 percent tariff, but China faces levies of up to 145 percent on many products.
\nBeijing has responded with duties of 125 percent on US goods.
\nSenior Chinese economic planner Zhao Chenxin said Monday in Beijing that the country was on the \u201cright side of history\u201d in the face of what he called Washington\u2019s \u201cunilateralism and bullying.\u201d
\nBRICS has expanded significantly since its 2009 inception as a group of four powers \u2014 Brazil, Russia, India and China \u2014 seeking an alternative platform to Western-led international organizations such as the G7.
\nIt now makes up nearly half of the world\u2019s population, 39 percent of global GDP and weighs in on issues from Ukraine to Gaza to global trade.
\nVieira opened the talks with a call for a \u201ccomplete withdrawal\u201d of Israeli forces from Gaza, terming Israel\u2019s more than 50-day aid blockade of the territory \u201cunacceptable.\u201d
\nThe group has had generally less to say about the war in Ukraine, issuing calls for peace while steering clear of condemning Russia\u2019s invasion.
\nAnd Vieira on Monday called for a \u201cdiplomatic solution\u201d which respects the \u201cprinciples and objectives\u201d of the United Nations charter.
\nThe meeting comes at the start of what the United States has called a \u201ccritical week\u201d for talks on ending the Ukraine war.
\nTrump appeared to turn against Putin at the weekend after a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Pope Francis\u2019s funeral, saying he felt the Russian leader was \u201cjust tapping me along.\u201d
\nRussian President Vladimir Putin responded by announcing a three-day ceasefire from May 8-10.
\nThe White House, however, suggested the pause was not sufficient, saying Trump had \u201cmade it clear he wants to see a permanent ceasefire first.\u201d
\nAt the same time the US president has been piling pressure on Kyiv to give up hopes of reclaiming Russian-annexed Crimea.
\nA BRICS challenge to the hegemony of the dollar is expected to feature high on the agenda.
\nAt a summit last year, BRICS members discussed boosting non-dollar transactions, eliciting a swift rebuke from Trump who threatened them with 100 percent tariffs if they undercut the US currency.
\nSpeaking to Brazil\u2019s O Globo newspaper ahead of the meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said BRICS nations planned to \u201cincrease the share of national currencies in transactions\u201d between member states, but said talk of transitioning toward a unified BRICS currency was \u201cpremature.\u201d
\nVieira, whose country has so far been spared the worst of Trump\u2019s trade ire \u2014 Brazilian imports to the US are subject to 10 percent tariffs, a fraction of those imposed on China \u2014 also denied any plans to create a new currency.
\nAnother issue expected to feature prominently in the joint statement issued after the BRICS meeting Tuesday is climate change.
\nBrazil is the host of this year\u2019s UN COP30 climate conference, which will take place in November in the Amazon city of Belem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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