Saudi Arabia Seeks to Join Russia/China-Led BRICS Coalition After Biden Admin InsultsFrances Martel 18 Oct 2022
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said during a visit to Riyadh this weekend that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was interested in joining the BRICS coalition, a trade and security organization led by Russia and China.
The BRICS coalition consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, and engages largely in trade negotiations, though it has also established agreements on security topics such as counterterrorism. The coalition has held despite growing tensions between members in the past decade, particularly between India and China, whose militaries engaged in battle over their mutual border in 2020.
The BRICS alliance also held despite Brazil electing a self-proclaimed conservative president, Jair Bolsonaro, dramatically shifting the focus of domestic politics from what it was when far-left socialist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva helped found the coalition in 2009. Bolsonaro has largely maintained friendly relations with China despite campaigning in 2018 on anti-communism and has remained neutral in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, actively condemning sanctions on Moscow.
Saudi Arabia’s interest in joining BRICS is not sudden — reports in July suggested that Saudi officials were beginning to entertain the possibility — but Riyadh actively seeking closer ties to nations like Russia and China will likely concern the White House in light of a growing diplomatic fiasco in the aftermath of the OPEC+ oil cartel announcing it would reduce production by two million barrels a day. The administration of leftist American President Joe Biden immediately denounced Saudi Arabia, the leader of the cartel, as seeking to aid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by raising oil prices — an allegation Saudi Arabia vehemently denied, backed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ramaphosa spent the weekend in Riyadh, signing 17 memoranda of understanding on trade and diplomacy, totaling a reported $15 billion in worth.
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https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2022/10/18/saudi-arabia-seeks-join-russia-china-led-brics-coalition-after-biden-admin-insults/
