Financial co-operation and Brics expansion on table as Putin hosts leaders
The Brics summit in Kazan is intended to push back against Western dominance in the world’s affairs.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has hosted China’s Xi Jinping, India’s Narendra Modi and other world leaders at a summit of the Brics bloc of developing economies – part of the Kremlin’s efforts to challenge Western global clout.
Speaking at the start of the Brics meeting, Mr Putin underlined deepening co-operation in the financial sector as part of its agenda.
He said participants were also set to discuss a range of international issues including the settlement of regional conflicts, along with the expansion of the Brics group of countries.
“The Brics strategy in the global arena conforms with the strivings of the main part of the global community, the so-called global majority,” Mr Putin said.
“This approach is especially relevant in the current conditions when truly radical changes are underway across the globe, including the shaping of a multipolar world.”
The alliance that initially included Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa 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 others have expressed an interest in joining.
The three-day summit in the city of Kazan was attended by 36 countries, highlighting the failure of US-led efforts to isolate Russia over its actions in Ukraine. The Kremlin touted the summit as “the largest foreign policy event ever held” by Russia.
The Kremlin has cast Brics as a counterbalance to the Western-dominated global order and redoubled its efforts to court the countries of the Global South after sending troops into Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia has specifically pushed for the creation of a new payment system that would offer an alternative to the global bank messaging network Swift and allow Moscow to dodge Western sanctions and trade with partners.
Speaking at the summit, Mr Putin accused the US of “weaponising” the dollar and described it as a “big mistake”.
“It’s not us who refuse to use the dollar,” he said. “But if they don’t let us work, what can we do? We are forced to search for alternatives.”
He also proposed creating a new Brics investment platform, saying it could “become a powerful tool for supporting our economies, and would also provide financial resources to countries of the Global South and East”.
In a joint declaration, the summit participants voiced concern about “the disruptive effect of unlawful unilateral coercive measures, including illegal sanctions” and reiterated their commitment to enhancing financial cooperation within Brics.
They noted the benefits of “faster, low cost, more efficient, transparent, safe and inclusive cross-border payment instruments built upon the principle of minimising trade barriers and non-discriminatory access”.
Mr Putin, who is set to hold more than a dozen bilateral meetings on the sidelines, conferred with Mr Xi, Mr Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday ahead of the summit’s opening.
Mr Xi and Mr Putin announced a “no-limits” partnership weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
They have already met twice this year, in Beijing in May and at a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kazakhstan in July.
During Tuesday’s meeting with Mr Xi, Mr Putin described the relations between Moscow and Beijing as “one of the main stabilising factors on the world arena”.
He vowed to “expand co-ordination on all multilateral forums for the sake of global stability and a fair world order”.
Mr Xi, hailing the “unprecedented character” of Russia-China ties, said: “Amid tectonic transformations unseen for centuries, the international situation is undergoing serious changes and upheavals.”
Russia’s co-operation with India has also flourished as New Delhi sees Moscow as a time-tested partner since Cold War times despite Russia’s close ties with India’s main rival, China.
Western allies want India to be more active in persuading Moscow to end the war in Ukraine, but Mr Modi has avoided condemning Russia while emphasizing a peaceful settlement.
“We fully support the quickest establishment of peace and stability,” said Mr Modi, who last visited Russia in July.
On Thursday, Mr Putin is also set to meet with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who will be making his first visit to Russia in more than two years.
Mr Guterres has repeatedly criticised Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
