New Delhi: Russia expects BRICS members to overcome differences between Iran and the UAE over the West Asia conflict and agree on a joint declaration at the New Delhi summit, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.
India will host the 18th BRICS Summit on September 12-13, with differences between Iran and the UAE emerging as a key challenge to securing a consensus declaration.
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"Understandably, there are contradictions in their positions," Peskov told Indian journalists, referring to Iran and the UAE.
He, however, expressed confidence in India's diplomatic efforts. "We have no doubts that necessary phrases will be found in order to satisfy national interests of both the countries concerned," he said.
Peskov said Russia was also prepared to contribute towards normalisation of ties between Iran and the UAE if required. "We stand for security in the region. We stand for mutual trust," he added.
The differences are significant because BRICS operates by consensus. A meeting of the grouping's foreign ministers in May ended without a joint statement after members failed to agree on parts of the document. India instead issued a chair's statement and outcome document identifying two paragraphs where unanimity could not be reached.
Peskov also said Russia now conducts 90 percent of its financial transactions with BRICS partners, including India, in national currencies, but rejected suggestions that this represented an organised attempt to weaken the US dollar.
"Use of national currencies is not a de-dollarisation policy. We're simply doing what is better for national interests," he said.
Peskov argued that the shift was largely a response to Western financial restrictions rather than a deliberate BRICS strategy to abandon the dollar.
"If they don't let us use their money, we use our own money," he said.
He also rejected the description of BRICS as an anti-West grouping, saying it was "not against any third party".
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Peskov said the Delhi summit would focus on cooperation in politics and security, economy and finance, and emerging technologies. Russia, he added, "highly values" India's BRICS chairmanship and expects the summit to mark the culmination of New Delhi's tenure at the helm of the grouping.
BRICS now comprises 11 major emerging economies and represents about 49.5 percent of the world's population, around 40 percent of global GDP and roughly 26 percent of global trade.
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