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Brics countries "have not and are not" creating an alternative to Swift in their pursuit of financial cooperation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the conclusion of the bloc's annual summit on Thursday. Putin made the remarks at a press conference after the summit he chaired ended in the Russian city of Kazan. Leaders and delegates from 35 countries converged to discuss pressing issues before the group of major emerging national economies. The Kazan Declaration - adopted by Brics at the summit - indicated that the countries recognised the benefits of a more transparent and safe cross-border payment infrastructure. Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. It also described a willingness to explore the "feasibility" of establishing an independent Brics cross-border settlement and depository system. Yet the development of an independent Brics settlement infrastructure did not feature in speeches at the summit delivered by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two leaders instead voiced a broader intention to improve financial integration and cooperation among the member countries. "As for Swift and some alternatives, we have not created and are not creating any alternatives for anyone," Putin said on Thursday, according to a statement released by the Kremlin. Swift is the main international payment messaging network used by clearing or settlement systems. Russia was cut off from Swift as a result of Western-led sanctions following the start of its war in Ukraine in 2022. The move has greatly restricted the country's ability to settle international payments. "The issue is very important today and one of the key problems is the problem of settlements," Putin added. "Therefore, we are following the path of using national currencies." That said, the Russian leader noted "we are not inventing any separate general system yet". "What we have is, in principle, sufficient," he continued. "We just need to make appropriate decisions at the administrative level in a timely manner."
