We are not creating any alternatives; we are pursuing the track of using national currencies.

There are a host of issues which need to be ironed out to turn BRICS into a genuine driver for global change, according to the professor, who cited ongoing disputes over new members – some of which face bilateral disagreements – like Egypt and Ethiopia’s dispute over water security.

On dedollarization too, a lot of work remains to be done, according to the professor. “I think that the essential dilemma is that many of the BRICS – South Africa, India, Brazil, have financial sectors that are tied to the dollar in a way that obviously Russia and Iran no longer are because of sanctions. And new members including Saudi Arabia potentially, the UAE and Egypt, which are also very tied to the United States."

“I would like to draw your attention to the fact that it's not Russia's actions that have led to an escalation in Ukraine. Rather, it is the coup d’état in 2014, which was supported first and foremost by the US. The US has even publicly announced how much money it has spent back then to organize and orchestrate this coup d’état… A number of European leaders have said publicly that they had been duping us because they had been using that time to rearm the Ukrainian troops,” Putin told a NBC reporter after being asked about alleged Russian plans for a “massive escalation in the Ukraine war.”

"Ball on their side," Russian President added on talks with Ukraine

"As for our relationship with North Korea, we ratified our Treaty on Strategic Partnership, which contains Article 4, and we have never doubted the fact that North Korean leadership is very serious about their commitments to us and engagement with that," said Russian President Vladimir Putin during the press conference following the BRICS summit in Kazan.

“[Is it] just in terms of security that for years our permanent appeals towards partners have been ignored? Our appeal is not to expand NATO to the east. Is it just to lie to our face promising that there will be no such extensions and then violate their obligations and do that?... Is it very just to get into our underbelly?” stated Putin answering the BBC journalist’s question regarding Ukrainian crisis.