A three-day summit of the recently expanded BRICS grouping kicks off Tuesday, with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government inviting two dozen world leaders to the southwestern Russian city of Kazan.
The summit is the first since the BRICS grouping expanded in 2023, and is also a chance for the Kremlin to show any political isolation of Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine doesn’t extend far past NATO’s borders.
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Russia’s major international partners like Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were scheduled to join the summit, which is the largest international gathering hosted by Putin since he launched the war on Ukraine in February 2022.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke of Moscow’s “strategic relationship” with India as he met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi
“Russian-Indian relations have the character of a particularly privileged strategic partnership and continue to actively develop,” Putin told Modi, after the pair were filmed shaking hands and embracing.
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Modi said that he wanted a return to peace in Ukraine and supported efforts for that during talks with Putin.
“We have been in constant touch over the conflict between Russia and Ukraine,” Modi said, and added: “We believe that disputes should only be resolved peacefully. We totally support efforts to quickly restore peace and stability.”
Ahead of his departure for Kazan, Modi said early on Tuesday that India “attaches immense importance to BRICS.”
“I look forward to extensive discussions on a wide range of subjects. I also look forward to meeting various leaders there,” he added.
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Kazan Tuesday morning, with Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian telling a press briefing this year’s summit marks “the beginning of greater BRICS cooperation.”
The spokesperson added that Xi would have “in-depth exchanges” of views with other leaders on “the international landscape, the BRICS practical cooperation, the development of the BRICS mechanism and important issues of mutual interest.”
“China stands ready to work with other parties to strive for the steady and sustained development of greater BRICS cooperation, open a new era for the Global South to seek strength through solidarity and jointly promote world peace and development,” he said.