BRICS summit in Russia: Putin wants to make BRICS a counterweight to “Western hegemony”.

From Tuesday to Thursday, Russia will host the largest BRICS summit since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. Putin is trying to position BRICS as a force capable of confronting Western “hegemony”, and in particular wants to show that his attempts to isolate his country have failed.

Leaders from more than 20 countries are gathering in Russia from Tuesday to Thursday for a BRICS summit that the Kremlin hopes will become a bloc against Western “hegemony”.

The summit is the largest in Russia since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, and comes at a time when Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to show that the West’s attempts to isolate his country have failed due to its ongoing aggression for two and a half years.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are scheduled to attend the summit in Kazan from October 22 to 24.

The Brazilian presidency announced that the Brazilian president had cancelled his planned visit to Russia on Sunday and was due to attend the summit via video.

Russia also said it expected Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the summit.

Among the main items on the summit agenda are President Putin’s proposal to create a BRICS payments system to rival SWIFT, the global financial network from which Russia was excluded in 2022, and the escalating conflicts in the Middle East.

BRICS is the prototype of multipolarity.

According to Moscow-based political analyst Konstantin Karachev, by holding the summit in Kazan the Kremlin aims to “show that Russia is not only isolated, but has partners and allies.” He said that “the multipolar world is a reality,” referring to Moscow’s efforts to shift the international center of gravity from the West to other regions.

Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said: “I see BRICS as the prototype of multipolarity, a structure that integrates the southern and eastern hemispheres on the principles of sovereignty and mutual respect. What BRICS is doing is gradually, step by step, building bridges to a more democratic and just world order.

Putin, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on an arrest warrant in 2023 for the illegal deportation of children from Ukraine, did not attend the previous summit hosted by South Africa, a member of the judiciary.

Absence of the Saudi crown prince.

The bloc was founded in 2009 with four members and has expanded to include emerging countries such as South Africa, Egypt and Iran. Turkey, a NATO member with ties to both Moscow and the West, also announced in early September that it was seeking to join the bloc.

According to Ushakov, the Kazan summit will be attended by leaders of all BRICS member states except Saudi Arabia, which will send its foreign minister. The absence of Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has led to speculation of a rift between the world’s largest oil producer and the kingdom. According to Karachev, “the Kremlin obviously wanted the crown prince to attend,” but overall “everything is going well for the Kremlin.”

Ultimately, the Kremlin is describing the summit as a diplomatic triumph that will help it build a coalition capable of countering Western “hegemony.” While the United States does not see the BRICS as potential “geopolitical rivals,” Washington has expressed concern about Moscow flaunting its diplomatic muscle amid the escalating conflict in Ukraine. Moscow has made expanding the BRICS group, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, India and South Africa, a cornerstone of its foreign policy.