Putin ends BRICS summit overshadowed by Ukraine war
Russian President Vladimir Putin has closed a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, praising its role as a counterbalance to what he called the West’s “perverse methods”.
The three-day summit in the city of Kazan was attended by leaders or representatives of 36 countries, highlighting the failure of US-led efforts to isolate Russia over its actions in Ukraine.
The conflict came up repeatedly at the meeting, which saw the first visit to Russia from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in more than two years and drew an angry reaction from Kyiv.
Guterres called for “a just peace” in Ukraine, in line with the UN Charter, international law and General Assembly resolutions.
He also urged an immediate end to the fighting in Gaza, Lebanon and Sudan.
At a news conference on Thursday night, Putin was asked about former US President Donald Trump’s promise to end the fighting in Ukraine.
“What Mr Trump said recently, what I heard, (is) he spoke about the desire to do everything to end the conflict in Ukraine,” Putin said.
“It seems to me that he said it sincerely. We certainly welcome statements of this kind, no matter who makes them.”
Putin also was asked about whether any North Korean troops were in Russia, which he neither confirmed nor denied.
The US said Wednesday that 3000 North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia and are training at several locations.
“Images are a serious thing, if there are images, then they reflect something,” he said when asked about satellite photos of troops.
Putin noted that in Moscow earlier in the day his government ratified a pact with North Korea on mutual military assistance as part of a “strategic partnership” with Pyongyang.
“We have never doubted that the North Korean leadership takes our agreements seriously. What and how we will do within the framework of this article (of the agreement) is our business,” he said.
The summit covered the deepening of financial cooperation, including the development of alternatives to Western-dominated payment systems, efforts to settle regional conflicts and expansion of the BRICS group of nations.
The alliance that initially included Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa when it was founded in 2009 has expanded to embrace Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia have formally applied to become members, and several other countries have expressed interest in joining.
The Kremlin touted the summit as “the largest foreign policy event ever held” by Russia.
Speaking at what was dubbed the “BRICS Plus” session, which included countries that are considering joining the bloc, Putin accused the West of trying to stem the growing power of the Global South with: “illegal unilateral sanctions, blatant protectionism, manipulation of currency and stock markets, and relentless foreign influence ostensibly promoting democracy, human rights, and the climate change agenda”.
“Such perverse methods and approaches -– to put it bluntly -– lead to the emergence of new conflicts and the aggravation of old disagreements,” Putin said.
“One example of this is Ukraine, which is being used to create critical threats to Russia’s security, while ignoring our vital interests, our just concerns, and the infringement of the rights of Russian-speaking people.”
China’s President Xi Jinping has emphasised the bloc’s role in ensuring global security.
Xi noted that China and Brazil have put forward a peace plan for Ukraine and sought to rally broader international support for it. Ukraine has rejected the proposal.
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