A joint declaration is a formal statement that every member country must accept before it carries weight. BRICS members have reached agreement on one: language condemning unilateral war by any country, four sources say. Formal approval by the bloc's leaders is expected Saturday, though the text is not anticipated to name any specific nation.
How the agreement came together
Getting here required working through a genuine divide. Iran and the United Arab Emirates had been at odds over the Gulf conflict, and reaching workable language between them was part of the process that shaped the final text. The agreement follows direct efforts to address those divisions, and those efforts produced common ground.
The decision to leave specific nations out of the text reflects how joint declarations survive in a group with competing interests. Every signatory must accept every clause. When member countries hold sharply different positions on a conflict, a named country can become the exact clause where an agreement unravels. Strip the name, keep the principle. The principle here is that unilateral war, meaning military action launched by one country acting alone, is something the BRICS bloc now collectively opposes in writing.
What the sources confirm versus what is still ahead
Four sources confirm the members reached consensus on substance. The formal vote has not yet happened. Leaders are expected to approve the text Saturday, and until that vote is recorded, the agreement lives as a consensus among member delegations rather than a signed document.
That distinction carries real weight in practice. Consensus means every member accepted the language during negotiations. Adoption means leaders have formally approved it. Per the sources, the first is done. Saturday is meant to settle the second.
The Iran-UAE divide over the Gulf conflict was the specific fault line this process had to cross. That it was crossed at the working level is what four sources are reporting. The formal leaders' vote Saturday is where the consensus either becomes a signed declaration or shows whatever cracks remain.