(Al Jazeera Media Network) Russian President Vladimir Putin is hosting the annual BRICS summit, which started on Tuesday, in Russia’s southwestern city Kazan.
The three-day conclave will be the largest gathering of world leaders in Russia in decades and will be held at a time when the Kremlin is locked in a war with western-backed Ukraine.
So what is on the agenda, and why is the summit significant?
BRICS stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
The group started in 2006, and Brazil, Russia, India and China convened for the first BRIC summit in 2009. South Africa joined a year later.
The aim of the alliance is to challenge the economic and political monopoly of the West. The group sets priorities and has discussions once every year during the BRICS summit, which members take turns hosting. This summit is the 16th held.
In 2023, BRICS extended invitations to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates after these countries applied for membership. Saudi Arabia has yet to formally join, but the others have.
An invitation was extended to Argentina at the same time, but the South American country turned it down after President Javier Milei, elected in December, campaigned on the promise that he would bolster ties with the West.
Who is attending the BRICS summit?
Two dozen world leaders attended the opening of the summit on Tuesday.
Leaders of BRICS member countries – including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa – are attending the summit.
UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed have also all landed in Kazan for the summit.
Leaders of several other countries that have shown an interest in deepening ties with BRICS are also participating, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva cancelled his trip to Russia after suffering a head injury in a fall at home on October 19. Foreign Affairs Minister Mauro Vieira will now represent the country at the summit.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is also expected to attend – and meet Putin. On Monday, Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticised Guterres, saying that while he did not accept an invitation to attend a Ukraine-backed peace summit in Switzerland in June, “he did, however, accept the invitation to Kazan from war criminal Putin. This is a wrong choice that does not advance the cause of peace. It only damages the UN’s reputation.”
In March 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague issued an arrest warrant against Putin, accusing him of the war crime of illegal deportation of children from Ukraine.
