Lukashenko opines on BRICS Summit outcomes

At the request of journalists, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko gave his take on the outcomes of the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, BelTA has learned.

The journalists asked whether the hegemony of the West ended in the wake of the increase in the number of BRICS members and plans to further strengthen this organization. The head of state responded: “I think that the Western hegemony is not on its last legs yet. But that was a strong move in this direction. This put on high alert not only media, but also high-level politicians.”

“There is something to think about. This is a huge step towards a multipolar world,” the president is convinced.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Aleinik represented Belarus at the BRICS Summit on behalf of the head of state. The foreign minister held a series of meetings with heads of foreign delegations participating in the event.

Aleksandr Lukashenko recalled: “Once I spoke at the SCO summit and noted that many progressive forces turned towards the SCO. And we should join efforts to make this organization powerful, to grow it into a new center of power.”

“BRICS has taken this step. Great. This is the first step,” the president continued. “And then we might see some settlement mechanisms, some currency. This is what they fear most of all, especially the Americans who call the shots. They are fully aware that the dollar might soon be replaced by a new currency, and their hegemony will come to an end. They will no longer be able to ride this gravy train. They will have to earn these dollars the hard way, like the rest of the world does, not just print them and work.

“Therefore, steps have been taken in this direction,” the head of state noted. “I take a hard line on this matter, I always argue for more decisive steps. Yet, sometimes I get doubts whether these more drastic steps will be possible, as there are conflicting opinions and approaches.”

At the same time, Aleksandr Lukashenko noted: “Yet, the main thing is to keep pushing forward. We must move in this direction. And it's good that China and India were not against it, even though Americans are courting them. They have made progress in this matter ... This is almost half of the world's population. No wonder Narendra Modi [Indian prime minister] said that in the near future it will be the fastest growing economy. Yes, it will be so. It has been posting high growth rates this year already, it has already caught up with China,” he said.

“So I would like this alternative center to come into being. This is necessary for much-needed multipolarity to appear,” the head of state said.

The president doubled down on this: “We used to be afraid to even pronounce this word ‘multipolarity'. The first time I spoke about the need for a multipolar world was twenty years ago in China. And the world is moving towards this now. Thank God,” the head of state concluded.