France’s Macron Elbows into BRICS Summit, Confusing Russia and China

French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly asked South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to invite him to the BRICS summit in Johannesburg this August, in a June 3 phone conversation that was made public this week.

France is not a member of BRICS and no Group of Seven (G7) leader has ever attended its summit, so the other members expressed some confusion over Macron’s motives.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova acerbically remarked that “it would be nice if they told us why they want to attend.”

“Do they want to once again make some contact to show Paris’ activity or is it a ‘Trojan horse’ of some sort? So let them explain,” Zakharova grumbled on Wednesday.

Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told Russia’s state-run Tass news service that he could not comment upon the Macron story because he had not read the reports — but then he proceeded to comment upon it anyway, suggesting the story has captured the Kremlin’s attention.

“It is up to the host country to invite guests, much depends on it, but many organizational and practical issues have not yet been settled,” Ushakov said, noting that summits “often have guests” and stating South Africa “initially planned to invite literally most of the African states to the summit.”

“It is common practice, yes, but, as a rule, these issues are coordinated with all member states,” he said, strongly hinting that Ramaphosa had better consult with Moscow before telling Macron to make hotel reservations in Johannesburg.

As of Thursday morning, Macron has offered no public explanation for why he wants to attend the summit. Russia Today (RT) speculated the French leader wants to discuss his plans to “overhaul the global financial and geopolitical order,” a topic he will expound upon at a conference in Paris next week.

Ramaphosa is an invited guest at the Paris conference. According to RT’s sources, he was somewhat taken aback by Macron’s request for a BRICS invitation and did not give the French president a firm answer either way. Macron might be hoping to butter him up at the Paris meeting, and perhaps cap off the event by announcing a historic invitation to the BRICS summit.

RT described France’s relationship with most of the BRICS nations as “fractious at best,” and matters are especially tense with Russia ever since Macron supported “a Ukrainian-drafted peace plan that Russia categorically rejects.”

China quickly overcame its surprise at Macron’s request, which has not been officially confirmed by the French government as of Thursday. The state-run Global Times called it a “bold and innovative idea,” mostly because Beijing sees an opportunity to peel France away from the U.S. orbit.

“Macron himself has made surprising statements on multiple occasions, demonstrating a certain level of autonomy separate from Washington. These factors make it feel like it wouldn’t be particularly strange if Macron were to attend the BRICS summit. The fact that such news are emerging in France and not in other countries itself speaks volumes,” the Global Times gushed.

The Chinese paper thought Macron might take the opportunity to “transcend ideological and geopolitical barriers, and break free from mental and conceptual constraints” – in other words, break away from the postwar European-U.S. alliance, quit harping on human rights, and start seeing things China’s way – but it hinted Marcon will have to work hard to convince Beijing of his sincerity.

“It is inevitable that people will have doubts about the extent to which France can act according to its own will, or whether it still has to comply with Washington’s strong opinions,” the Global Times muttered.

The core members of BRICS are Brazil, Russia, India, and China, with South Africa added in 2011. South Africa has the rotating chairmanship this year and Ramaphosa has said he wants to focus the attention of the bloc on African issues during his stint as chairman.

The general goal of BRICS is to create an alternative to the G7 that is aligned more closely with the interests of developing nations – a role China still claims, even as it has become one of the world’s largest economies. This would make Macron a rather offbeat guest for the summit. There are currently 19 nations petitioning to join BRICS, and France is not one of them. RT snidely noted that Macron alienated potential BRICS members in Africa by condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine, because those former French colonies “see Russia as a more reliable partner than their former master.”

South Africa has lately been having second thoughts about hosting the BRICS summit in August because of another potential attendee: Russian President Vladimir Putin. As a signatory to the foundational treaty of the International Criminal Court (ICC), South Africa would technically be obliged to arrest Putin for war crimes if he shows up. As August approaches, Ramaphosa’s government seems increasingly less confident it can finesse that little detail away with a grant of diplomatic immunity.

The UK Guardian reported on Sunday that some South African officials want to hand the BRICS summit off to China, a close ally of Russia that did not sign the ICC treaty. This would also make it easier for South Africa to promote a peace plan for the Ukraine war that it devised along with Zambia, Senegal, Congo, Uganda, and Egypt.