Financial cooperation and BRICS expansion are on the table as Putin hosts Global South leaders
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is hosting China’s Xi Jinping, India’s Narendra Modi and other world leaders at a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, part of Kremlin efforts to challenge Western global clout
KAZAN, Russia — Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday 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.
Putin said the agenda covered the deepening of financial cooperation, including the development of alternatives to Western-dominated payment systems, as well as settling regional conflicts and moving to expand 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,” Putin said at the start of Wednesday's meeting. “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 other countries have expressed interest in joining.
The three-day summit in the city of Kazan that began Tuesday is attended by 36 countries, highlighting the failure of U.S.-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
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