On July 6-7, Rio de Janeiro hosted the 17th BRICS Summit, summarizing and effectively concluding Brazil’s 2025 Presidency (although several events remain scheduled through December, no substantive outcomes are expected before India assumes the rotating presidency in 2026).

This year, the perception of the Brazilian Presidency was largely influenced by the momentum given after the Kazan Summit in 2024. Back then, Russia proposed an extensive agenda, seeking to accelerate the formation of an independent financial and payment infrastructure and to strengthen the BRICS institutional foundation. Despite persistent sanctions risks and the Ukrainian crisis, Russia managed to sustain a packed agenda that continued up until the very end of its chairmanship in December.

In 2025, Brazil, as BRICS’ new Chair, appeared to have calibrated the Group’s agenda. As a result, institution-building efforts and BRICS-level projects initiated during Russia’s presidency have been decelerated. However, these changes reflect a greater shift in the BRICS decision-making, stemming from both internal factors and the external environment.

We take a closer look at the reasoning behind these adjustments in our memo below.