KAZAN: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrived in Russia on Wednesday to attend the BRICS summit, his first visit to the country in more than two years that has drawn scorn from Ukraine.
The gathering is Russia’s biggest diplomatic forum since the start of its full-scale military offensive in Ukraine in 2022, and President Vladimir Putin wants to use it to demonstrate that efforts to isolate him on the world stage have failed.
About 20 world leaders, including China, India, Turkey and Iran, are in the central city of Kazan, where they will discuss issues such as the development of a BRICS-led international payments system and the conflict in the Middle East.
Moscow sees the platform as an alternative to Western-led international organizations such as the G7 – a position supported by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In bilateral talks on Tuesday, including with Xi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Putin hailed Moscow’s close ties and “strategic partnerships” with its partners.
Xi, meanwhile, praised China’s “deep” ties with Russia in what he called a “chaotic” world.
Russia-China relations “have given strong impetus to the development, rejuvenation and modernization of the two countries,” Xi said.
Putin said he sees relations between Beijing and China as the foundation of global “stability”.
“Russian-Chinese cooperation in world affairs acts as one of the stabilizing factors on the world stage. We intend to further increase coordination across multilateral platforms to ensure global security and a just world order,” he told Xi.
The leaders will hold a summit on Wednesday, where they are expected to back the organization’s role in strengthening what Moscow and Beijing regularly refer to as a “multipolar world order.”
Bolstering his vision of the BRICS challenge to the West, Putin will hold separate talks with Iranian President Massoud Pezheskian and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday.
He will also meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
NATO member Turkiye is also pitching itself as a potential mediator between Russia and Ukraine and is striving for warm relations with Moscow.
Guterres will hold talks with Putin on Thursday, where the pair will discuss the conflict in Ukraine, the Kremlin said.
Kiev has objected to the trip by UN chief Guterres.
“The UN Secretary General rejected Ukraine’s invitation to the first World Peace Summit in Switzerland. However, he accepted the invitation to Kazan from the war criminal Putin,” his foreign ministry said in a post on X.
Guterres’ spokesman said the trip was part of the UN chief’s regular presence in “organizations with a large number of important member states” and said it offered an opportunity to “reaffirm his known positions” on the conflict in Ukraine “and the conditions for peace.”
Modi, who is also pitching himself as a potential peacemaker, called for a quick end to the conflict during talks with Putin on Tuesday.
“We are in constant touch on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine,” Modi told Putin after the two shook hands and hugged.
“We believe that disputes should only be resolved peacefully. We fully support efforts to quickly restore peace and stability,” the Indian leader added.
India has walked a tightrope since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, pledging humanitarian support to Kiev while avoiding outright condemnation of Moscow’s actions.
Moscow has been steadily advancing on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine this year as it strengthens ties with countries including China, Iran and North Korea.
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