Unable to travel abroad, ‘pariah’ Putin has Xi, Modi come to him

Kazan, Russia: Isolated by the West for his war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has scored a diplomatic victory by welcoming the leaders of China, India and South Africa at the opening of a summit of emerging market countries bidding to rebalance a world order now dominated by the United States.

Putin, who cannot travel freely abroad because of a warrant for his arrest issued by the International Criminal Court, was able to cast himself as a global statesman by rolling out the red carpet for the likes of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Xi’s plane was escorted by a Russian fighter jet before he landed in Kazan to red-carpet treatment, which included an honour guard and women in traditional costumes bearing plates of Tatar snacks known as chak-chak.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands during the welcoming ceremony before an informal dinner on the sidelines of BRICS Summit at Kazan City Hall in Kazan, Russia.Credit: AP

Putin received the visiting leaders at the historic Kazan Kremlin, an ornate centuries-old castle.

Meetings with foreign leaders have become rarer for Putin, and he sought to use the gathering to show that he has powerful allies and influence in the world.

“Russia-China co-operation in international affairs is one of the main stabilising factors in the world,” he told Xi, whom he addressed as a “dear friend” at the beginning of a bilateral meeting. “We will continue to collaborate to establish a just world order.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping with Putin at their meeting on the sidelines of BRICS Summit.Credit: AP

The summit is perhaps the highest-profile international event in Russia since Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, or even in Russian history, according to the state RIA News Agency. Over three days, Putin will also host Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the first NATO member to indicate interest in joining the group of countries, and the United Nations secretary-general, Antonio Guterres.

Ukraine has condemned Guterres’ planned meeting with Putin, which the Russian leader is expected to use to further reinforce his point that Russia is far from the global pariah the West has cast it as.

“For Russia to have 22 leaders and representatives of over 30 countries coming to Kazan 2½ years into this war does not only show that Putin is not isolated internationally and the ICC warrant is of limited utility, but also that the war in Ukraine has become a new normal, something accepted as a feature of international reality,” said Hanna Notte of the James Martin Centre for Nonproliferation Studies in California.

Right at home: Russian President Vladimir Putin at the opening of the BRICS summit in Kazan.Credit: AP

Known as BRICS – an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – the grouping expanded this year to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Together, the group represents almost half the world’s population and more than 35 per cent of global economic output, adjusted by purchasing power.

Still, Putin has not been able to escape the shadow of the war in Ukraine.

“We have been in constant touch over the conflict between Russia and Ukraine,” Modi told Putin after giving him a warm hug. “We believe that disputes should only be resolved peacefully. We totally support efforts to quickly restore peace and stability.”

Modi has navigated the two combatants in the war carefully. This is his second visit to Russia in three months, but he also travelled to Ukraine in August. India has helped prop up Russia’s economy by buying discounted oil from Russian companies that have been placed under sanctions by the United States and Europe.

The day before the summit, India and China reached an agreement on patrolling their shared Himalayan border, potentially easing the icy hostility between the Asian giants after a deadly skirmish between their troops four years ago.

Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the agreement had come after weeks of intense talks between diplomatic and military negotiators from both sides. The agreement, Misri said, was designed to lead to “disengagement and a resolution of the issues that had arisen in these areas in 2020″.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Lin Jian, said: “Now both sides have arrived at a resolution on the relevant matter, which China views favourably. Going forward, the Chinese side and Indian side will implement those resolutions.”

Some countries, among them China, Russia and Iran, want to use BRICS to challenge the power of the United States, particularly its ability to wield economic sanctions. Others, such as India and Brazil, are more interested in reforming global institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to better serve the needs of the developing world.

The inclusion of more member states will probably make it more difficult for the group to reach consensus, diplomats and analysts say.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (second from right) is offered chak-chak at Kazan International Airport before the BRICS summit.Credit: AP

A key topic for the summit will be trying to build a global payments system similar to the global banking network known as SWIFT, which Russia was excluded from because of its invasion of Ukraine. Talks are also under way to add more countries to the group, including a new “partner” category that would require less involvement from interested states.

However, Notte said that much of the activity at the summit is “more show than substance”, asserting that it will have a limited effect on Russia’s war effort.

“All these partners in BRICS, and its associates, have thrown lifelines to Russia’s economy, support of which has been meaningful and allowed Russia to prolong the war in Ukraine,” she said. “But it is not enough to put Russia into position to actually win the war.” She cited problems with manpower and ammunition.

Kazan is the capital of Russia’s Tatarstan region, which is about 1200 kilometres from the front line with Ukraine. Despite the distance, the region has been subject to long-range Ukrainian drone attacks, including in April. Security in Kazan is particularly tight, with schools and universities closed and movement around the city limited.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.