Will there soon be more BRICS countries? | DW Analysis

The leaders of the BRICS group of nations are arriving in Johannesburg for their 15th summit. The group of countries includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and makes up over 40 per cent of the world’s population. But Russia’s Vladimir Putin faces an international arrest warrant and is skipping the summit. China’s President Xi Jinping is expected to push for the club to expand. Some 40 other countries have expressed interest in joining a BRICS-plus group. One leader NOT at the summit is Russian President Vladimir Putin. He faces an international arrest warrant for war crimes stemming from his invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin will not be attending the 15th BRICS summit in Johannesburg like his counterparts from Brazil, India, China and South Africa. He is subject to an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court. His presence in South Africa would put the government in a very awkward position – as members of that court they’d legally have to arrest him. This is seen as a positive in Ukraine, as a sign of the Russian President’s increasing isolation on the global stage. DW’s Aya Ibrahim reports on the view of the summit from the capital Kyiv. DW is joined by Sanusha Naid, a Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Global Dialogue and is attending the BRICS summit, and our own China specialist Clifford Coonan.