Although French President Emmanuel Macron has been the EU’s “softest” on Russia and Putin, things have changed and the other side is not taking the same approach.
The Kremlin has lately indicated its disapproval with French President Emmanuel Macron’s presence to the BRICS conference in South Africa this summer, claiming that he may sabotage the gathering.
“With all due respect to the host country, we sent a signal that the invitation of certain guests should be based on the fact that BRICS is an association of states that, in principle, reject unilateral sanctions as a method of solving foreign policy problems,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Thursday, according to state news agency TASS.
“Taking this into account, the inappropriateness of having Western representatives there is simply obvious,” Ryabkov remarked.
On August 22-24, South Africa will host the next summit of the BRICS countries, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, all of which remain Moscow’s partners despite the Kremlin’s complete occupation of Ukraine.
The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) group of major developing economies is the Global South’s response to the G7 (Group of Seven) of Western developed countries.
Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesperson, also dismissed the prospect of Macron receiving an invitation from South Africa.
“We honestly do not know how, for whom, or for what purpose Macron will attend the summit; such information is not available to us,” Peskov said.
If Macron goes, he will be the first Western leader to attend a BRICS conference.
