BRICS Summit 2024: What Russia concluded?

Oct 24: The Russia-hosted BRICS summit 2024 from 22-24 Oct  in Kazan, the capital of Russia’s republic of Tatarstan. 

The largest international event held in Russia since it invaded Ukraine more than two years ago, the summit was seen as a tool for the Kremlin to shake off its pariah status and strengthen its influence in the Global South. 

High-ranking representatives of 36 countries participated in the summit, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the only leader of a NATO country present.  

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also arrived in Tatarstan on Wednesday despite criticism from Kyiv, whose foreign ministry dubbed the visit “a wrong choice that does not advance the cause of peace.” 

Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized Guterres' decision to attend the BRICS summit in Russia, as he declined Ukraine's invitation to the first Global Peace Summit in Switzerland but accepted an invitation from war criminal Putin to Kazan. Ukraine believes this was the wrong choice, as it does not contribute to peace and damages the UN's reputation. 

Indian Prime Minister Modi discussed the war in Ukraine during his one-to-one meeting with the Russian president, stressing a wish for a “peaceful” and “quick” resolution of the conflict. 

BRICS+ members released the final communique, the Kazan declaration, on Wednesday. 

The declaration touched on a wide range of topics from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to hostilities in the Middle East to new financial mechanisms spearheaded by the alliance. 

BRICS+ members vowed to welcome “a peaceful resolution” of the Ukraine war “through dialogue and diplomacy” and expressed “grave concern” and “alarm” over Israel’s military offensive on Gaza and attacks on southern Lebanon. 

The alliance also backed admitting the state of Palestine within the 1967 borders to the UN and the revival of the Iran nuclear deal.

Members “underscored the need to reform the current international financial architecture” and “the use of local currencies in financial transactions between BRICS countries and their trading partners.”

The declaration also hailed the establishment and expansion of the BRICS Grain Exchange, a commodities trading platform spearheaded by Moscow.