Asean 'more substantive' base than Brics: Ukraine deputy minister

Malaysia’s status as a newly accepted partner country in the Brics alliance, formalised at its most recent summit in Kazan, Russia last month, will not deter Ukraine from pursuing trade and investment deals with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration.

Speaking to reporters in Kuala Lumpur, Ukraine Deputy Economy Minister Taras Kachka cited the Asean platform, with Malaysia as the upcoming chair, as a more “substantive platform” for international cooperation.

“I think that Brics itself is a platform that has no future while Russia is there.

“Of course, it is advertised as something that has some competitive advantage, but you see for example Asean as an entity in the region, it has its agenda of cooperation, it has substance.

“Brics is a dialogue by leaders of state and we see no substantive results from the most recent summit,” he said.

In September, Anwar met with President Vladimir Putin during a working visit to Russia and later said discussions were held on whether Malaysia should immediately join Brics as a member country or as an initial partner country.

Chaired by Russia, the bloc reportedly represents over 40 percent of the global population with combined economies worth US$26.6 trillion (RM115.7 trillion) — approximately 28 percent of the global economy.

Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli represented Malaysia at the October summit in Russia, along with neighbours Thailand and Indonesia.

Less favourable

Ukraine has over the last decade been in active conflict to defend its borders from Russian forces, with the military invasion launched in February 2022.

As a result of the war, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees estimated there are 3.7 million persons internally displaced within Ukraine as of January, while 6.3 million others were recorded as refugees.

“That’s why the reason Malaysia is exploring this form of cooperation is maybe not really positive for us since this is an entity where Russia is quite active,” said Kachka (above) who led a two-day delegation to Malaysia for an inaugural Joint Trade Committee meeting.

He insisted that in comparison with Asean’s long history of regional and global partnerships, the Brics alliance founded by Brazil, Russia, India and China in 2009, followed by South Africa in 2010, is “less substantive”.

“We do not overestimate the development of Brics,” stressed Kachka.

In January 2024, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates joined the alliance as new members.

Direct dialogues

Kachka, however, said Ukraine under President Volodymyr Zelenskyy continues to pursue direct dialogues with Brics member and partner countries in various areas of bilateral cooperation.

“That’s why I think for us there is a lot of buzz about Brics. But apart from this buzz, I don’t think it marks a new era in international relations.

“We all know how patient you should be in order to develop international relations.

“We really admire what is going on in Asean and I think the Asean chair tenure will bring more results for international cooperation rather than Brics,” he said.

‘Shared common principles’

When questioned whether Israel’s diplomatic support for Ukraine against Russia has impacted discussions with Malaysia, Kachka said not only has Zelenskyy’s administration condemned the attacks on Gaza, but there are also other areas of shared principles.

“When you reflect on what Russia is trying to achieve, what Russia is trying to impose on the rest of the world, it is a total neglect of principles that are important to any state. For Malaysia as well.

“For example, freedom of navigation is important to Malaysia as well as Ukraine,” he said, alluding to situations in the South China Sea.

“So from this perspective, we see that Malaysia also respects principles which are important to Ukraine.

“This is the direction where we build cooperation and we can re-engage with the international community,” he added.

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