I'm not - my original comment wasn't talking about whether the US was acting in a morally correct manner but rather if it was seen as a reliable mediator. It is certainly not the most trusted nation in the world but it is highly trusted. Becoming a despotism would break a lot of that trust as "being a democracy" is highly valued internationally and, traditionally, America is essentially the judge of who is and isn't a democracy (or has control of the organizations that do).

BRICS is in a really interesting place right now because China continues to prop up Russia and India and South Africa are intent on reinforcing good will with China. They have a real tangible power internationally but Russia is still an extreme pariah. I was disappointed that they didn't adopt an alternative trade currency as that'd provide (imo) a lot more global stability in the long run - but that may still come together. Also in my opinion if China either dropped support of Russia or supported a coup/revolution to depose Putin it's likely they'd rapidly overtake the USA in the few western spheres the US still politically dominates - I'm not a political strategist but I absolutely can't comprehend why China is spending so much potential reinforcing a highly unpredictable government like Putins but that may just be down to personality quirks of Xi.