The word ‘Ukraine’ was not publicly mentioned once in the 14th summit on Thursday of the BRICS bloc, which comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping alluded to Ukraine obliquely only by criticising Western sanctions imposed on Russia because of its war against its neighbour.
Ramaphosa also implicitly reiterated South Africa’s “whataboutism”, as Western diplomats like to call it, by suggesting that excess focus on Ukraine had neglected other conflicts and challenges. Putin alluded to the war more directly, though not by name, in blaming the ramifications of the conflict on Western sanctions.
Xi took a similar line. He said the global economic recovery was “tortuous” while global peace and security had become “more salient problems”.“We must abandon Cold War mentality and block confrontation and oppose unilateral sanctions and the abuse of sanctions.” This was a reference to the fact that the South African company, Aspen Pharma, has been unable to sell any of the J&J Covid vaccines it has been manufacturing under licence in Gqeberha – despite global support in principle for Africa to become more self-sufficient in vaccine production.
“We will go on adding new members to the NDB in a gradual and balanced manner. This will increase our voice and our contribution to global economic governance,” he said.
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