BRICS is evolving with new members; differences will take time to resolve: Brazil FM Mauro Vieira

How wide and far-reaching are the differences between BRICS members and is it possible to bridge them now?

I think diversity of positions is a positive aspect of BRICS, because it is a platform for consultation and political expression, and we are currently seeing the evolution of BRICS. We originally had five countries, and now, two years after the expansion, we are still adapting to new ways of working and new types of interaction for developing countries. Sometimes, even in larger groups, you have difficulty reaching consensus on everything. However, I think we are all in the same position on the vast majority of issues. And I believe that what we do not have now, we may have later this year, at the summit chaired by Prime Minister Modi in India (September 10-11). I am very confident in myself.

Still, would you say that Iran-UAE differences have brought the BRICS reconciliation to a halt?

This is the main point. But this also proves the importance of this group; Two countries with completely different positions are facing each other, and one is at war against the other, in military action. But I think that’s the richness of this grouping, because you have this place and space for negotiation and conversation.

It is also important for BRICS to engage in dialogue with other countries and other groups. Therefore, I am quite confident that a common position will be reached and this negotiation platform will create the necessary consensus.

External Affairs Minister Jaishankar said that new BRICS members (Iran, UAE, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia) should understand and follow the consensus of old BRICS members (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa). Looking back, do you think the BRICS enlargement process was progressing too quickly or was being reconsidered?

It took some time to reach the point of expansion. We had an original five members of 17 before it was decided to expand into South Africa two years ago and all five countries had agreed on new members. What we all discussed and what we based on this enlargement, one of the important issues, was precisely that we should share the same positions in international relations, such as the reform of the Security Council, which was a consensus and should continue to be a consensus that new members should embrace. I believe this is the quote from External Affairs Minister Jaishankar that you are referring to. I think the new members share the same values ​​and the same positions as the first five members.

During the Rio BRICS summit in Rio, there were very strong paragraphs about the conflict in Gaza and Israeli-Palestinian issues. Are you hopeful for a similar language this time?

Yes, we hope that from here until September, we will work together with all BRICS countries to reach a text that everyone agrees on, I hope so. This is also characteristic of democratic and diplomatic movements and organizations; We need to negotiate and reach a common text. On behalf of Brazil, we highly criticized Israel’s attacks on civilians in Gaza. It led to the deaths of thousands of people, including Brazilians, Brazilian citizens, and even young children. Others were imprisoned and one starved to death. That’s why we can’t stay silent. We have to criticize. But of course, every country has a different perspective and different position on this issue, and some are more affected than us.

Consensus was also elusive when Brazil hosted the G-20 in 2024 and the BRICS in 2025. Do you think that new conflicts and actions by world powers, including the United States in Venezuela, the United States and Israel in Iran, and previously Russia in Ukraine, make it more difficult to make joint statements?

This is destabilizing the entire world. Just see inflation and rising oil prices globally. We live in a globalizing world. In the past, conflicts remained regional, but now everything has become global and I think this has a huge impact. This is why Brazil favors diplomacy, negotiation and dialogue between countries. And we will always try to promote negotiations between countries to end all these conflicts.

Since the beginning of his second term, US President Donald Trump has made statements against BRICS and threatened BRICS members with 100 percent sanctions. Why do you think the BRICS are targeted and viewed as anti-Western?

Well, I don’t know if it’s seen that way. The only thing I can say that BRICS is not against the USA, the West or anyone else is that we have countries from different parts and continents of the world. BRICS is a group of developing countries that seek to develop common policies to promote the development of these countries, have more trade, and combat the many different challenges in these countries.

For example, during our presidency, we launched the medical initiative to combat poverty-related diseases and the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty. I think BRICS is a very successful grouping. This is a very important thing. If you look at the membership in the G-20 and many other groups, you will always see BRICS members there, even the G-7 hosted by France this year, with India and Brazil invited.

President Lula once talked about the idea of ​​dedollarization and alternative payment mechanisms. Does this conflict we see create a greater need for something like this?

It was a misunderstanding. President Lula never talked about dedollarization or the creation of the BRICS currency. He only mentioned payment mechanisms in local currencies that exist between many countries. They have the option of using local currencies or using major payment systems in Europe and the United States. But nothing is against anyone. In favor of members and medicine etc. It is in favor of development and social policies and initiatives in the fields.

What’s the progress in the Brazil-India-led Biofuel alliance? In the current crisis, the world is still focused on fossil fuels, not alternative energy sources.

The fossil fuels and oil industry is very large, very well established. Ethanol and biofuels are much newer to the world. Fifty years ago there was no oil in Brazil and we started developing ethanol to fuel our cars and trucks, and that gave us a lot of experience. Today this is very normal and very common. You go to a gas station and you can put gas in your car, or you can put ethanol in your car. These are double flexible and you can use one or the other. So this is already part of our culture and we partner with many countries, especially India. India has all the necessary infrastructure and experience for this. And I believe that this cooperation will be very positive and will produce very important results. The new limit also applies to Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and marine fuel for ships. So I believe there is a very clear vision that something needs to be done to balance outdated environmental policies around the world. All countries need to join forces to fight climate change. One of the best tools used in Brazil is sustainable fuel.