In a snub to the West who want to isolate him since the offensive in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin on Tuesday displayed his understanding with the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, in particular), occasion of the summit of this group.
The Russian president held numerous meetings throughout the day in Kazan, Russia, speaking in turn with the Indian and South African leaders and even with his major Asian partner, Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“Russian-Chinese cooperation on the international scene is one of the factors of global stability,” said Vladimir Putin at the start of this meeting with Xi Jinping.
In a “chaotic” international context, “the deep friendship that unites China and Russia from generation to generation will not change,” assured the Chinese head of state.
According to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov, the conflict in Ukraine was discussed at length, as well as relations with the West. “Once again there has been a significant convergence of positions and approaches on what is happening in the world,” he said.
In the evening, Mr. Putin met with Egyptian President Abdelfattah al-Sissi, whose country recently joined BRICS. Mr Sisi praised Moscow’s support for his country’s economic projects, including the Dabaa nuclear power plant on the Mediterranean coast.
The President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, also arrived in Kazan to participate in the BRICS summit, which his country aims to join. This great ally of Moscow in Latin America has not visited Russia since 2019.
“Precious friend”
Illustrating his ambition to put an end to Western “hegemony” in international relations, Vladimir Putin had previously praised, in front of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the excellence of relations between their countries, both diplomatic and commercial.
“We believe that conflicts are intended to be resolved only peacefully. We fully support efforts to quickly restore peace and stability,” said Modi, whose country, like China, has never condemned the Russian offensive in Ukraine.
This summit, which brings together around twenty leaders around Mr. Putin, aims to demonstrate the failure of the Western strategy of isolating the Russian president as a result of his offensive in Ukraine.
It takes place at a time when Russia is gaining military ground in Ukraine and has forged close alliances with the United States’ biggest adversaries or competitors: China, Iran, North Korea.
In this diplomatic marathon from Moscow towards the countries known as the “Global South”, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa gave Vladimir Putin cause for satisfaction, calling Russia an “ally” and a “valuable friend”. .
Mr. Putin replied that he wanted to further “strengthen relations with the countries of the African continent”.
In terms of international trade too, Vladimir Putin intends to advance his pawns.
In an interview with the Brazilian president of the New Development Bank, Dilma Rousseff, he reiterated his wish for an increase in the number of “settlements in national currencies” between the BRICS countries.
Facing Western economic sanctions and with its main banks excluded from the international payment platform Swift, Russia is pleading for the establishment of an alternative system in order to counter the hegemony of the dollar.
The Russian head of state will meet on Wednesday with his Turkish counterparts Recep Tayyip Erdogan – whose country, a NATO member, has requested to join the BRICS – and Iranian Massoud Pezeshkian.
“Multipolar world”
Targeted by an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in March 2023 due to the deportation of Ukrainian children of which kyiv accuses Moscow (which rejects these accusations), Vladimir Putin is limited in his travels abroad.
For this major diplomatic rally, Moscow considers it “crucial” to demonstrate that “there is an alternative to Western pressure […] and that the multipolar world is a reality,” notes Russian political analyst Konstantin Kalatchev.
Ukraine will be on the summit menu on Thursday with a meeting announced by the Kremlin between Vladimir Putin and Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the UN.
The UN did not directly confirm this meeting with Mr. Putin, the first in Russia between the two men since April 2022, but said that Mr. Guterres would speak with a “large number of leaders participating in the summit” .
“The Secretary-General will reaffirm his well-known positions on the war in Ukraine and the conditions for a just peace based on the charter and resolutions of the United Nations and international law,” said one of his spokespersons, Farhan Haq.
With four members (Brazil, Russia, India, China) when it was created in 2009 and having joined South Africa in 2010, the bloc now known as BRICS (the initials of these states in English) was joined this year by four other countries (Ethiopia, Iran, Egypt and United Arab Emirates).
