Seven countries and the European Union (EU) launched the inaugural summit of “Partners for Multilateralism” (P4M) in New York on Monday, September 21, a group presenting itself as a defender of a UN-based international order and one removed from superpower politics.

The joint declaration “A joint commitment to multilateralism, international law, peace and prosperity” lists Australia, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, the EU, India and Kenya as initial co-sponsors, according to the office of Canada’s prime minister, and was co-hosted by European Council President António Costa, prime ministers William Ruto of Kenya, Anthony Albanese of Australia, Mia Mottley of Barbados and Mark Carney of Canada, and foreign ministers Mauro Vieira of Brazil and Subrahmanyam Jaishankar of India, according to UN WebTV. The text says economic interdependence “is increasingly used as a source of leverage”, cites the triple planetary crisis and the rapid development of artificial intelligence among the challenges requiring cooperation, and backs reform of multilateral institutions, including through the UN80 process. In his opening remarks, Jaishankar said the “four F crisis” — fuel, food, fertiliser and finance — “cannot be left to itself”, according to Times Now. In a joint editorial in the Financial Times, Costa, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Ruto and Carney wrote that P4M will not be another exclusive bloc or an international bureaucracy, and cited 2025’s record number of state-based armed conflicts since 1946, in 35 countries, according to The Hindu.