Putin proposes BRICS insurance, grain market to counter sanctions

Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed the creation of a BRICS insurance mechanism and a collaborative grain market at the 18th BRICS summit in New Delhi, framing the initiatives as tools to counter Western sanctions and bolster economic cooperation among member states. Speaking at the concluding session of the summit on Sunday, Putin presented the proposals as Russian initiatives and invited other BRICS members to utilize them. "We have some promising initiatives going forward, such as creating an insurance mechanism and a grain market. These are Russian proposals, and we invite all other member states to make use of those," Putin said, without providing further details on their structure or implementation. The proposals come as Russia seeks to mitigate the impact of Western sanctions imposed over its war in Ukraine. The G7 nations, the European Union, and the United Kingdom have prohibited Western companies from insuring ships transporting Russian crude oil unless the oil is purchased at or below a specified price cap, a measure that has adversely impacted Russian energy exports.