On June 9, local time, Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs, arrived in the eastern Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod and will attend the BRICS Foreign Ministers' Meeting to be held there on June 10-11.
As can be seen from the live video, Foreign Minister Wang Yi's dress for this visit was very casual, wearing a gray shirt with a black suit, and he didn't even wear a tie.
In order to welcome the arrival of Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the Russian side also prepared a very special meeting gift, which was not flowers or souvenirs, but "bread and salt" held by two young girls dressed in traditional Russian costumes.
This ritual was not confined to Russia, but was circulated among the Slavic peoples a long time ago. They believe that bread and salt are indispensable things in life, symbolizing abundance and health, and in their traditional culture, this ritual has always been used to welcome the most important, admired, and respected guests.
As can be seen from the video, under the guidance of the staff next to him, Foreign Minister Wang Yi broke a small piece of bread, dipped it in salt, and tasted this delicious taste that represents friendship and respect.
In addition to the details of the pick-up arrangement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also preemptively met with Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and during the talks, Lavrov also made a point of expressing gratitude to China for refusing to participate in the "peace conference" held in Switzerland.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi once again stressed that the cooperation between China and Russia is neither aimed at nor interfered by any third party, and is committed to sustainable cooperation with Russia in various fields.
As we talked about in the previous video, Ukraine has always hoped that China would be able to participate in the peace summit in Switzerland, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also expressed "dissatisfaction" because of China's refusal, and even hinted that "China not only refused to participate, but also pressured other countries to be absent from this meeting."
However, China has already said that for similar meetings, it will only participate in the meeting if it meets the three requirements of "recognition by Russia and Ukraine, equal participation of all parties, and fair discussion of all peace plans", but this Swiss summit obviously did not meet this standard, so it is reasonable for China to refuse to participate.
And Russia obviously sees this more clearly, so Lavrov is grateful not for the so-called "taking sides", but for China's "balanced and consistent" position on the Ukrainian issue.
Of course, the highlight of Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit is the BRICS Foreign Ministers' Meeting.
This meeting is the first foreign ministers' meeting after the expansion of the BRICS, and in 2024, Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Ethiopia will become new members of the BRICS. Originally, Argentina was also on this list, but under the influence of the new President Milley, Argentina refused this precious "admission ticket".
Since it has set a precedent for expanding its membership, it is natural that other countries want to join this economic platform. Last week, Thailand's cabinet approved a draft letter of intent to join the BRICS, and the application for membership will be formally submitted soon.
In January, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno publicly stated that he was conducting a feasibility study on joining the BRICS. She said that Indonesia is willing to cooperate with any party as long as it can achieve mutual benefit.
Even Turkish Foreign Minister Fedan, who recently visited China, said at the event that Turkey also hopes to join the BRICS family.
These countries want to join the BRICS, no doubt because they hope that they will be able to help their economies take off. As an organization composed mainly of emerging countries and economies, the share of global GDP in the BRICS countries has been rising, from 17% of global GDP in 2008 to 26% in 2022.
A considerable number of experts believe that the essence behind the expansion of the BRICS is that the world has shifted from a single-level order dominated by the United States to a multipolar development path.
Coincidentally, during the BRICS Foreign Ministers' Meeting, the United States continued to release news related to China and Russia. U.S. President Joe Biden said on June 9 that he and Macron had agreed to use the proceeds from frozen assets to support Ukraine.
There are two points to note, first of all, this is not new news, Biden is not talking about the direct deduction of Russian assets, but the income generated by its assets. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen previously raised the idea at the G7 finance ministers' meeting, when Yellen said that the G7 group was close to reaching an agreement on the proposal. That is, this is just wishful thinking on the part of the United States, which has not been formed into an official document.
The second point is that Biden's statement means that this idea is supported by Macron, the problem is that in this matter, Macron does not count. According to Russian media statistics, about 300 billion euros of foreign exchange in Russia are frozen by the EU and G7 member states, most of which are frozen in Belgium's European clearing system.
If you want to use this money, you must get the nod of the relevant member states and the European Union, but the EU is currently in the election period, and it is still unknown whether von der Leyen can be re-elected.
In addition, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in an interview with CBS that China and the United States have made breakthroughs in communication on arms control issues and nuclear proliferation issues, and China has shown a higher willingness than ever to engage with them.
It should be pointed out that before that, the New START Treaty between the United States and Russia had already existed in name only, and Russia had withdrawn from the treaty's facility verification mechanism.
Since then, the United States has been hoping to reach a new alternative agreement with Russia, and even Wadi, senior director of arms control at the US National Security Council, has publicly stated that the prospect of an alternative agreement between the United States and Russia will directly depend on China.
Therefore, Sullivan's announcement of a breakthrough in the Sino-US arms control talks at this time not only meant to put pressure on Russia on relevant issues, but also used the US-US arms control talks as a bargaining chip in an attempt to divide the ties between China and Russia.