MOSCOW, January 15. /TASS/. The BRICS group could think about introducing the position of a secretary general in order to counter US policies, Karin Kneissl, former Austrian foreign minister and head of the G.O.R.K.I. center at St. Petersburg State University, said.

"We talk about BRICS a lot, but BRICS is a forum, not an organization. BRICS has no mechanisms. Dozens of seminars and conferences are held, but it is still just a platform for dialogue," she pointed out in an interview with TASS.

Speaking about what needs to be done to counter US policies, Kneissl noted that "there is no BRICS secretary general who could say: 'We will now take some action.' There is simply no way of doing so."

When asked who in the Western Hemisphere was capable of confronting Washington's policies, the G.O.R.K.I. center’s chief said: "No country can do it alone." "This is why, based on how the situation is unfolding, I sometimes get the impression that [US President Donald] Trump can act almost without constraint," Kneissl observed.

"Brazilian President Lula [da Silva] is doing his best but, in my view, he is not succeeding in that alone," the ex-top Austrian diplomat went on to say. "If we look at the positions of other, more influential countries, we will get quite a fragmented picture. In particular, Argentine President [Javier] Milei is applauding Washington. Had Jair Bolsonaro still been Brazilian president, Brazil would also applaud the US. That said, the situation is far from being black and white," Kneissl elaborated.

In this regard, she mentioned China’s reaction to US actions. "If we look at the People’s Republic of China, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson made a statement there. But not President Xi Jinping, and it’s quite clear why. If I were the Chinese leader, I would probably also refrain from expressing my personal reaction," Kneissl stressed.

"Still, it is a personalized policy that Trump pursues. It means that if someone wants to respond to it, they will actually have to do the same. At the end of the day, we see statements from the Chinese Foreign Ministry and press releases from various other places, but what has really happened?" she concluded.