From Russia, our special envoy Yunus Soner updates us on the latest details of the BRICS Summit to be held from the 22nd to the 24th of this month in the Russian city of Kazan. teleSUR
Category
đź—ž
NewsTranscript
00:00We continue on the topic of the BRICS Summit. We go now live to Kazan with
00:03our Special Envoy Yunus Ă–ner for the latest information.
00:12Good evening from the city of Kazan in the Russian Federation, where the BRICS Summit is
00:18getting into motion. Today, within an hour or so, the official welcoming ceremony will be held here,
00:29but still, leaders are arriving. Just minutes ago, I saw the Indonesian President arriving
00:36at the airport of Kazan, which has been live-streamed here in the Convention Centre,
00:41where we are at, where this summit takes place. During the day, dozens of leaders have arrived
00:48here in the city, members of BRICS, as well as other leaders whose countries would like to join
00:57this alliance. In total, 36 countries will participate in this summit, 22 at the level
01:05of head of government or head of state. So, what happened during this day? Mostly,
01:11bilateral meetings, and most of them taking place with the Russian President Vladimir Putin,
01:17as his country has the chairmanship in this year of BRICS. So, Putin welcomed the Prime Minister
01:25of India, Narendra Modi, and they had a very warm meeting. As it was reflected by their statements,
01:35Putin said, we have so good relations, I quote, that we don't need a translator.
01:41Modi replied, smiling, and after the meeting, he stated on social media that his meeting with
01:48Putin was wonderful, end of quote. Similarly, the President of South Africa qualified after
01:56his meeting with the Russian President that Russia is a valuable ally of his country.
02:03The Chinese President Xi Jinping also arrived today here and had his bilateral meeting with
02:09Vladimir Putin. Xi Jinping spoke of tectonic shifts in the global order, but emphasised
02:17the strategic relationship, the strategic alliance between Russia and China, and of course,
02:24in the framework of BRICS as well. Other leaders also met with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
02:32An important leader who arrived today here in the city of Kazan was Palestinian President
02:38Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas has been in Moscow and has held there already meetings with Putin before,
02:45and he was invited there to attend the BRICS summit here. And here, in that context,
02:51it is worth mentioning that his ambassador to Moscow back in summer had, in an interview given
02:58to the local media, mentioned or declared his country's, Palestine's, ambition to join the BRICS
03:05as well. Well, that would be an important step, obviously, as the other multilateral organisations
03:13fail to assist Palestine in its defence against Israeli aggression. Speaking of which,
03:20another important guest will be the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres,
03:26important because he has not been visiting Russia since 2022, the year that the war in Ukraine
03:35started. And his announcement to attend BRICS summit was criticised harshly by the Ukrainian
03:42presidency. Almost he was labelled as a traitor, a treatment which reminds of actually Benjamin
03:50Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister's reaction or criticism against the UN Secretary-General.
03:56So, he will also attend this meeting, which tonight begins with a welcoming ceremony and
04:02a cultural programme. The leaders will have a dinner together. Tomorrow, the programme starts
04:09officially and fully with two different sessions talking about the matter of BRICS expansion.