Financial cooperation, BRICS expansion on table as Putin hosts Global South leaders

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday hosted India's Narendra Modi, China's Xi Jinping and other world leaders at a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, part of the Kremlin's efforts to challenge the Western global clout.

Speaking at the start of Wednesday's BRICS meeting, Putin named the deepening of cooperation 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. “BRICS strategy on the global arena conforms with the strivings of the main part of the global community, the so-called global majority,” Putin said. 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 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.

Putin, who is set to hold more than a dozen bilateral meetings on the sidelines, conferred with Modi, Xi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday ahead of the summit's opening.

Xi and Putin announced a ‘no-limits’ partnership weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. They 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 Xi, Putin described the relations between Moscow and Beijing as “one of the main stabilising factors on the world arena.” He vowed to “expand coordination on all multilateral forums for the sake of global stability and a fair world order”.

“Amid tectonic transformations unseen for centuries, the international situation is undergoing serious changes and upheavals,” Xi said, hailing the “unprecedented character” of Russia-China ties.

Russia's cooperation 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.

The Western allies want India to be more active in persuading Moscow to end the war in Ukraine, but Modi has avoided condemning Russia while emphasising a peaceful settlement. “We fully support the quickest establishment of peace and stability,” said Modi, who last visited Russia in July.

On Thursday, Putin is also set to meet United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who will be making his first visit to Russia in more than two years. Guterres has repeatedly criticised Russia's actions in Ukraine. AP