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BRICS countries could theoretically stop US from blocking IMF decisions — Lavrov

The top diplomat recalled how the leaders of the Russian economic bloc had recently convinced everyone that globalization has positive features

MOSCOW, February 2. /TASS/. The criteria on which the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is based allow BRICS member states to claim enough shares and votes to block US decisions, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with TV news anchor Dmitry Kiselyov on Thursday.

"If we take the criteria the IMF and the World Bank are based on, then the BRICS countries - it’s been several years now, since this situation emerged - can claim such a number of shares and, accordingly, votes that would disrupt the current situation, where the United States can single-handedly block any decisions," the minister said.

According to him, the United States would lose this right if it acted based on fairness and "objectively reflecting the economic indicators of the BRICS countries in the IMF mechanisms."

Lavrov recalled how the leaders of the Russian economic bloc had recently convinced everyone that globalization has positive features.

"Globalization no longer has any positive features. We understood this earlier, because, firstly, we were the first to take the heat due to what the United States was plotting against us through Ukraine. And secondly, we were not so deeply immersed in this system, as, for example, China.

"The depth of Chinese immersion in the current system, of course, is not comparable to ours. But the fact that China will inevitably begin to lessen this dependence and has already begun to scale this dependence down is undeniable as far as I am concerned. All the evidence points to this effect. It will take more time for China to create parallel instruments and mechanisms that will protect it from the arbitrariness of the United States as the main steward of the global monetary and trading system at this stage."