Lavrov attended on behalf of Putin, but participated throughout the entire process online. Putin did not attend the BRICS Summit and participated online at the South African BRICS Summit

On the 19th, Russian President's press secretary Peskov stated that Putin will participate in the BRICS summit to be held in South Africa in late August via video, and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov will represent Russia at the summit. This statement ends months of speculation from the outside world about whether Putin will attend the meeting.

The 15th BRICS Leaders Meeting will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa from August 22nd to 24th. For a period of time, South Africa has been under tremendous pressure from both domestic and international sources regarding the decision of the International Criminal Court in March this year regarding the Ukraine crisis and whether to receive Putin, putting it in a dilemma. Now, with the agreement of both Russia and South Africa, Moscow has finally adopted the method of leaders attending the entire conference online and the foreign minister attending on behalf of them.

Vincent Magwya, spokesperson for the South African Presidential Office, told TASS that he does not believe that Putin's absence from the summit will hinder the planned events, as Lavrov will represent Russia.

Regardless of how Putin participates, this BRICS summit is of great importance to the Russian side. Russia mainly focuses on several aspects.

One is the issue of expanding staff.

Peskov stated last month that the expansion issue is expected to be on the agenda. "This is a matter of concern," he said. "More and more countries are showing strong interest in the BRICS, and Russia is satisfied with it."

Russian media said that at present, about 20 countries hope to "register" to join the BRICS mechanism, and this year they are expected to accept five new members, namely Argentina, Egypt, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Iran. Many of the new members have a foundation of cooperation with Russia. The Russian Ambassador to Cairo has pointed out that Egypt strongly hopes to develop trade and other economic cooperation with Moscow.

Valeria Gorbachova, head of the Development Management Office for Multilateral Strategic Projects at the Russian State Higher School of Economics, stated that the main mission of the BRICS countries is to become spokespersons for the interests of developing countries, and their goals and values are aligned with most countries in the world. This means that expanding the membership of the BRICS countries will be a matter of time.

Many Russian media have also noticed a recent report by Bloomberg that during the summit of the European Union and the Latin American Community in Brussels, the EU demanded that Argentina not join the BRICS mechanism during the Ukraine crisis. And the EU is working hard to win over other Latin American and African countries. The "small actions" of the West have alerted the Russian side.

The second is local currency settlement cooperation.

Putin stated during last year's BRICS summit that the BRICS countries are developing a reliable international settlement alternative mechanism and studying international reserve currencies based on a basket of BRICS currencies. Pavel Konyazev, Deputy Coordinator for BRICS Affairs in Russia, told TASS that the de dollarization and use of local currency settlement in trade by BRICS countries will become a major agenda item at this summit.

Some analysts believe that local currency settlement and "BRICS currency" are hot topics - Brazilian President Lula has repeatedly called for the abandonment of the US dollar and the creation of a single currency within the BRICS countries. Egypt, which has officially applied to join the BRICS, has stated that it is seeking to settle imports in its own currency from BRICS countries. Last month, the Argentine central bank approved the opening of RMB bank account services within the country

Vasily Koltashov, director of the "New Society" research institute, told SatelliteNet that the "invisible hands" of the Western market are no longer able to control anything and are no longer the core of the world system. In contrast, the importance of BRICS countries has significantly increased, as they can create new reserve currencies and promote trade in the form of "BRICS+", carry out large-scale infrastructure projects, and bring about new economic growth.

Thirdly, using the summit as a platform to unite partners and address global risks and challenges.

Dmitry Razumovsky, an expert at the Valdai Debate Club, a Russian think tank, said that the current geopolitical turmoil, rising trade protectionism, Cold War thinking, and unilateralism have endangered global development. The BRICS mechanism, as an international cooperation platform dominated by emerging and developing countries, represents countries with different civilizations and social and political systems, and is a platform for developing countries to enhance their discourse power and seek cooperation.

According to media reports, Russia will host the BRICS summit in Kazan next year. The Russian side also hopes to prepare for the subsequent promotion of the BRICS agenda through this participation.