KAZAN: World leaders called for peace in the Middle East and Ukraine at the BRICS summit in Russia on Wednesday, as President Vladimir Putin told them he welcomed offers to mediate in the Ukraine conflict. The Russian leader is casting the gathering as a sign that Western attempts to isolate Moscow have failed, but faced direct calls to end the Ukraine conflict from some of his closest and most important partners.
The meeting of around 20 world leaders in the central city of Kazan is the largest diplomatic forum in Russia since Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in 2022. Starting in 2009 with four members -- Brazil, Russia, India and China -- BRICS has since expanded to include other emerging nations such as South Africa, Egypt and Iran.
Chinese President Xi Jinping told the summit there must be "no escalation of fighting" in Ukraine. "We must adhere to the three principles of 'no spillover from the battlefield, no escalation of fighting and no adding oil to the fire by relevant parties', so as to ease the situation as soon as possible," Xi said.
Russia and China signed a "no limits" strategic partnership days before Moscow ordered troops into Ukraine and Putin and Xi both hailed close ties in a bilateral meeting on Tuesday. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also issued a call for peace. "We support dialogue and diplomacy, not war," he said.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also called for escalation in both the Middle East and Ukraine to be avoided. "As we face two wars that have the potential to become global, it is essential to restore our ability to work together towards common goals," he said in an address to the summit via video conference.
In private talks, Putin welcomed offers by several of the BRICS leaders to mediate in Ukraine, even as he told them his forces were advancing, his spokesman said on Wednesday. Many countries "expressed a desire to contribute more actively" to resolving the conflict, state media cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as telling reporters. Putin had also used the meetings to tout "the very positive dynamics on the front for the Russian armed forces," Peskov said.
Russia's troops have been slowly advancing in eastern Ukraine for much of 2024, though neither side has been able to make a decisive breakthrough and the conflict appears locked in an attritional phase. "Avoiding escalation and initiating peace negotiations is also crucial in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia," Brazil's Lula said.
Moscow promotes the BRICS platform as an alternative to Western-led international organisations like the G7. "The process of forming a multipolar world order is underway, a dynamic and irreversible process," Putin said at the official opening of the summit. — AFP
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