Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates joined the BRICS bloc at the start of this year, with 44 other nations such as Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam having reportedly expressed interest in joining the bloc.

BRICS currently has a combined population of about 3.5 billion people, with a combined economy worth over $28.5 trillion or about 28 percent of the global economy.

Putin slammed the United States saying Washington had undermined the reliability of US monopolized global market and financial payments system and the world is ready for an economic shift to a multi-polar system.

“The dollar is one of a few tools of the United States’ greatness today. They are driving global economic players away from the dollar,” he said.