UK-Germany Defence Agreement Signed

Rheinmetall is getting a good deal out of this, but they are very well integrated within the U.K. anyway” said Ed Arnold, who has tracked the bilateral relationship at the London-based Royal United Services Institute think tank. ... The pact marks a “strong foundation” for boosting cooperation in the future, Arnold said, including on jointly researching long-range missile technology. ... “[The pact] creates a lot more U.K.-German touch points both bilaterally and through NATO in areas where the two sides are strong already,” said Arnold.

It is indicative of a collective movement away from the West, a demonstration of a fundamental shift within the world order that is seeking to challenge Western economic hegemony,” Callum Fraser, a research fellow in Russian and Eurasian security at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank, told CNBC Monday. Fraser added that it was “still unclear to what degree BRICS+ will be able to challenge the Western-dominated G7, or even to what degree they are able to align their visions of the international system.”

Callum Fraser, Research Fellow in Russian Security at the RUSI think tank, told MailOnline: 'BRICS is just as much a symptom of emerging multipolarity as it is a catalyst. It exists primarily because each of its member states is looking to shape the international system to cater for their own national interests - these states consider the Western-led system to not adequately cater to their interests, so have created an alternative organisation to do so. Putin's primary focus will be the creation of an alternative payment system, either using a BRICS currency, cryptocurrency, or an alternative to SWIFT. Other states within BRICS will be considering this, but whether or not it will be an achievable goal of this year's summit remains to be seen.'