JOHANNESBURG, February 21. /TASS/. The BRICS countries' leadership of the Group of Twenty (G20) has bolstered the role of the Global South, contributing to the establishment of a fairer, multipolar world order, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated at a news conference following the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in South Africa.

"At the global level, there is significant attention on the role played by BRICS. We have informed our colleagues in detail about the outcomes of last year's BRICS summit in Kazan, where we formulated several promising ideas relevant to the G20 mandate. These include agreements on launching BRICS payment and settlement mechanisms, an investment platform, and a grain exchange," Lavrov said. "The G20, as a platform for dialogue between established and emerging centers of power, should retain its economic focus, as originally intended when the association was created in 2008, without the politicization of its agenda."

Lavrov emphasized that former colonial powers and Western transnational corporations had monopolized markets and supply chains, "exploiting their advantages to extract natural resources and raw materials from countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America."

"They then generate added value at their own enterprises, maximizing profits from the entire process," Lavrov pointed out. "This is not acceptable in the 21st century. That is why we support our partners from the global majority, who are increasingly vocal and insistent about liberating themselves from neo-colonial practices. South Africa, which led the G20 this year, completes the succession of BRICS presidencies that began in 2022 with Indonesia, followed by India in 2023, and Brazil in 2024. This continuity of BRICS leadership in the G20 has undoubtedly produced positive outcomes, strengthening the position of the Global South in our discussions."

"All of this contributes to the establishment of a more just, multipolar world order based on the sovereign equality of states, as required by the UN Charter, and on all other principles of the Charter in their entirety and interrelation," Lavrov noted. "Overall, we are satisfied with the outcome of the meeting. While some disagreements remain, ongoing dialogue is always beneficial. In Johannesburg, we successfully established a positive direction for future interactions in the G20, increasing focus on pressing issues, particularly those affecting the African continent and other countries of the Global South. This represents a valuable contribution to the preparations for the G20 summit in Johannesburg in November 2025.".