Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday called for more cooperation between the BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) to guarantee the world's supply of food and energy resources.

Speaking via videoconference at the summit taking place in Johannesburg, South Africa, Putin said that "Russia is in favor of establishing closer cooperation within the BRICS for the reliable and uninterrupted supply of energy and food resources to world markets."

The Russian leader emphasized that Moscow is increasing the supply of fuel, agricultural products and fertilizers to the countries of the South and is contributing to strengthening global food and energy security and combating poverty and hunger in the countries most in need.

Vladimir Putin insisted that his country is capable of replacing Ukrainian grain in the world, both commercially and as a donation or humanitarian aid.

The Russian President repeated the promise made at the recent Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg that he would send shipments of 25,000 to 50,000 tons of grain to six African countries.

"The talks with the partners have already been concluded," he announced, pointing out that Russia has had "a magnificent harvest" this year.

The Russian leader once again insisted that the Kremlin is ready to return to the Black Sea initiative on grain exports if all its conditions are met and once again accused the West of hindering Russian grain and fertilizer supplies since the start of the war in Ukraine 18 months ago.

After Russia abandoned the agreement in force in mid-July, Ukraine began looking for new export routes for its grain, and a first ship has already left the port of Odessa for the Bosporus Strait.

Putin also pointed out that the five BRICS countries surpass the G7 countries (Germany, Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom) "in purchasing power parity" and considered it "irreversible" to renounce the dollar in exchanges and transfers between Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

"As a result, the dollar's share in export and import transactions within the BRICS has decreased. Last year, it was only 28.7%," he said.

In addition to the expansion of the group, the BRICS summit is also expected to discuss "de-dollarization" among the member countries by opting for their respective national currencies, like the current policy that India intends to promote with the Indian rupee, or possibly through a "single currency" as advocated by the President of Brazil, Lula da Silva.

Pretoria has invited more than 60 leaders from the Global South to the event, which is taking place in Sandton, north of Johannesburg, including the presidents of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, and Bolivia, Luis Arce, under "maximum security" measures by the South African police (SAPS) and the army (SANDF).

Putin is the major absentee at the Johannesburg summit, where he has decided not to travel for fear of being arrested following the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

The Russian delegation is led by Foreign Minister Serguei Lavrov, who has made several trips to the African continent over the last two years in search of support for Moscow's policies.