Anti-U.S. BRICS Holds Biggest, and Most Toothless, Summit Yet

The BRICS security and trade coalition is concluding its annual summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Monday, publishing a “declaration” notably missing some of the most strident anti-American policies it previously promoted, including the creation of a unified currency to challenge the U.S. dollar.

BRICS is an international institution named after its core members: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The coalition identifies itself as a vehicle for “global south” countries – a term typically used for underdeveloped or developing countries and, inaccurately, for China – to conspire to overthrow the Western-led world order. It expanded its membership to include four more countries – Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Ethiopia, and Iran – in 2024, and added Indonesia in 2025. The current summit, which began on Sunday and should conclude the next day, is the first one including Indonesia as a full member.

The group also created a new category, BRICS “partners” lacking full membership, during the 2024 summit in Russia. The Rio summit featured guests from Belarus, Cuba, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Uzbekistan, and Uganda as partners.

From a numbers perspective, the 2025 summit is BRICS’s largest yet, a fact that its core members touted as evidence of the group’s growing influence. The absence of the de facto leaders of the bloc, however – Vladimir Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China – and the lack of any meaningful BRICS participation to defend member Iran in its recently concluded war with Israel, however, presented a weaker picture of the institution. Putin did not attend in person due to the active International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant in his name, but delivered a teleconference address; Xi did not participate or give a reason for his absence, represented instead by Chinese Premier Li Qiang.

BRICS leaders pose for a family photo during the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on July 07, 2025. (Photo by Murat Gok /Anadolu via Getty)

The 31-page BRICS “Rio Declaration” that the parties signed focused heavily on alleged support for radical leftist policies such as climate alarmism, “special and differential treatment” for poorer countries at international trade platforms, and the “right to development.” While featuring nations notorious for committing human rights atrocities regularly, such as China and Iran, the declaration repeatedly touted the importance of women’s rights in particular and opposition to “racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.”

Notably absent from the text were any specific condemnations of the United States – though it did condemn recognizable policies by President Donald Trump such as trade tariffs and sanctions – and accusations of “genocide” against Israel for its self-defense operations in Gaza, which some individual members made in their speeches but did not make it into the joint statement. The text also did not address the potential of creating a joint BRICS currency to use instead of the dollar, a proposal Putin revived in his comments and one that Trump has vowed to punish with high tariffs if executed.

Emphasizing that the three prongs of BRICS cooperation are security, trade, and culture, much of the declaration was dedicated to supporting the United Nations and its various controversial agencies, such as the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) and the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) that operates in Gaza. The declaration excused from this support the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), instead condemning that office for revealing that BRICS member Iran had repeatedly violated international law on nuclear proliferation.

“We condemn the military strikes against the Islamic Republic of Iran since 13 June 2025,” the statement read, “which constitute a violation of international law and the Charter of the United Nations, and express grave concern over the subsequent escalation of the security situation in the Middle East.”

“We further express serious concern over deliberate attacks on civilian infrastructure and peaceful nuclear facilities under full safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in violation of international law and relevant resolutions of the IAEA,” it continued.

The airstrikes in question began hours after the IAEA revealed that Iran was illicitly enriching uranium at an alarming rate and were intended to contain the threat of Iran building a nuclear weapon. The BRICS declaration simultaneously condemned this action while expressing “concern about the growing risks of nuclear danger and conflict” and calling for “invigorating the system of disarmament, arms control and nonproliferation and for preserving its integrity and effectiveness to achieve global stability and international peace and security.”

On Gaza, the BRICS countries called for “good faith” negotiations to end the war. The countries notably also called for the Iran-backed jihadist terror organization Hamas to release all the hostages that remain in captivity after the atrocities it committed against Israel on October 7, 2023. The lack of vitriol in condemning Israel reflects the presence in the coalition of India, which has greatly strengthened its ties to Israel under Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the UAE, one of several “Abraham Accords” Arab countries that has normalized relations with Israel.

The trade subsection of the BRICS declaration featured several statements in condemnation of Trump administration actions, though neither Trump nor America are mentioned by name in the text.

“The proliferation of trade-restrictive actions, whether in the form of indiscriminate rising of tariffs and nontariff measures, or protectionism under the guise of environmental objectives, threatens to further reduce global trade,” the statement read, “disrupt global supply chains, and introduce uncertainty into international economic and trade activities.”

“We voice serious concerns about the rise of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures which distort trade and are inconsistent with WTO rules,” the countries continued.

The nations also condemned sanctions as a policy tool.

“We condemn the imposition of unilateral coercive measures that are contrary to international law,” the statement continued, “and reiterate that such measures, inter alia in the form of unilateral economic sanctions and secondary sanctions, have far-reaching negative implications for the human rights.”

It went on to identify no true human rights, instead listing “the rights to development, health and food security.”

The declaration featured at least one statement of veiled praise for Washington, however – a celebration of the lifting of sanctions on Syria, which President Trump agreed to after meeting with President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a jihadist with ties to al-Qaeda.

President Trump addressed the BRICS summit in a statement on Sunday night published on his website, Truth Social.

“Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff,” Trump announced. “There will be no exceptions to this policy.”

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