The Republic of Cuba has reportedly asked Russia if it can join the BRICS alliance, the coalition that’s competing against the US dollar hegemony.
In a post on the social media platform X, Cuban ambassador and foreign minisiter Carlos M. Pereira says the country officially asked Russian president Vladimir Putin to consider adding Cuba to BRICS.
“Cuba has officially requested to join the BRICS as a ‘Partner Country’ through a letter to the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, who holds the Presidency of the Group, which is consolidating itself as a key player in global geopolitics and hope for the countries of the South.”
BRICS was originally established as Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, but recently welcomed Iran, Egypt Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates, which would make Cuba the tenth country to join should its application be accepted.
The group, originally founded in 2009, aims to bridge relations with countries of the Global South and Global East, and to strengthen economic trade outside of the dollar reserve system.
Cuba’s request to Putin comes days before BRICS members meet at a summit in Kazan, Russia.
At the summit, BRICS countries will be discussing how to implement a new “petroyuan” trade system for oil, according to a report from the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) think tank.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest supplier of oil, has recently confirmed that it is “open to new ideas” when it comes to oil trade, including using the yuan.
Russia is also looking at using the petroyuan as an alternative to the petrodollar to reduce its dependence on the US and the SWIFT system, which banned Russian banks in February 2022 as a response to the conflict in Ukraine.