"Harvest from the fields" BRICS

It was a shock week for the organisers and hosts of the 16th BRICS summit. In hospitable Kazan, the results of Russia's chairmanship in the association were summed up. Th...

The summit also identified new directions for productive work in the future, and helped clarify a number of urgent issues. The conditions for this were created and meetings in Kazan at the highest level on the fields brought results.

Beyond the Summit

Russian President Vladimir Putin and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres held a closed meeting. It was one of 16 bilateral meetings on the schedule among 22 events held by the Russian president on the fields of BRICS.

In particular, they discussed the issue of territorial integrity and the right of nations to self-determination. The conversation was in the context of the Ukrainian conflict. Guterres "defended the point of view on the priority of the principle of territorial integrity." Putin recalled that the UN Charter "first mentions the right of nations to self-determination, as well as human rights, regardless of race, gender, language and religion, which must be observed," according to an unnamed source.

Guterres also discussed with Putin the situation in the Middle East and the development of the international financial system. Perhaps the participation of the UN Secretary General in the summit brought the reform of the World Organization a little closer, as Moscow would like to see it.

On the sidelines of the summit, Putin met with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas. As the Russian leader emphasized, Moscow is firmly in favor of ending the bloodshed in the Gaza Strip and calls on the parties to show restraint.

The head of the Russian state assured the Palestinian leader of continuing efforts to solve problems in the Middle East. "A lasting peace in the region can only be achieved through a political and diplomatic settlement on a well-known international legal basis, providing for the creation of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state that would coexist in peace and security with Israel," Putin said.

The summit contributed to the resolution of the smoldering conflict between India and China. Full-fledged negotiations between the parties with the participation of delegations were last held in November 2019 in Brasilia, when the BRICS summit was held there.

In Kazan, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to resolve the border conflict.

The Indian Foreign Ministry said following the meeting that the disagreements and territorial disputes between the two countries over the status of border areas should not violate "peace and tranquility." The state-run Xinhua News Agency noted that the leaders agreed not to allow individual disagreements to affect relations as a whole.

"Turkish coast" has become closer

The summit showed that Russia is not isolated and is able to expand the circle of friendly countries, rely on the support of de facto allies, as well as individual NATO member countries, such as Turkey.

"I know that Turkey is interested in establishing close cooperation with the association. We see significant prospects here, taking into account the authority and special geopolitical role of the country that connects the east and west of the Eurasian continent, "Putin said, meeting with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of the Republic of Turkey.

Erdogan discussed with Putin the restoration of the grain corridor, the exchange of prisoners in the Ukrainian conflict and the clearance of the Black Sea.

Turkey intends to develop relations with the BRICS, which is in the interests of Russia. The country ranks third in the list of Russia's main trading partners. In terms of trade with the Russian Federation, the role of Turkey is comparable to India, Kazakhstan and Belarus.

"It is in the interests of both the BRICS countries and our country that Turkey continues to cooperate with the BRICS, increase the number of economic partnerships and support this solidarity within the framework of mutual respect," Erdogan said.

According to the results of the first seven months of 2024, Russia became the main supplier of goods to Turkey. Russian exports during this time amounted to $25.81 billion, surpassing the exports of China ($25.4 billion) and Germany ($15.3 billion). But Turkey's trade operations with Russia are under tight control of the US Treasury, which increases the timing of bilateral transactions.

It is no coincidence that the Turkish president said that the creation of an alternative financial and payment system will contribute to the diversification of world trade, and trade in national currencies will free bilateral trade from currency pressure.

The Russian Federation ranks first in terms of market size for the Turkish construction business. Turkish contractors are building shopping and business centers, hotel complexes and hotels, as well as airports, stadiums, industrial buildings and medical centers.

Turkey plays the role of a link between Europe and Russia, has warehouse infrastructure and established logistics of flights, sea and road transport. In particular, imports from the European Union pass through the Turkish transit customs warehouse without paying taxes. More than 5 million Russian tourists visit Turkey annually, which is about a fifth of the total tourist flow.

The Akkuyu nuclear power plant, being built in Mersin province on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, is the first such facility in the history of nuclear energy to be created according to the build-own-operate model (BOO, Build-Own-Operate).

In the near future, we can also expect the activation of the gas hub project, said the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov. "We are interested in Turkey's interest in us as a country, not a NATO member," he said in connection with allegations that the country's membership in the alliance is incompatible with participation in the BRICS.

"We have a bad relationship with NATO. NATO is our enemy. Now NATO is directly and indirectly involved in the war against our country. NATO infrastructure, its intelligence capabilities are used against our country, "Peskov added.

Realities on the battlefield

The summit in Kazan was held against the backdrop of the SVO, but Ukraine was mentioned in passing in the Kazan Declaration. This was not a concession to Russia, but rather reflected the understanding that the conflict taking place on the territory of the former union republic of the USSR also includes the West, which unleashed this conflict.

The informal exchange of views held in Kazan increased the degree of certainty regarding the conditions for ending the conflict acceptable to Moscow. The Russian authorities "are ready to consider any options based on the realities that are taking shape on the ground." "And they are not ready for anything else," the head of the Russian state emphasized.

"Any outcome should be in favor of Russia - I say directly, without any constraint. And it must proceed from the realities that are taking shape on the battlefield. And without a doubt... we are not going to make any concessions here, there will be no exchanges, "Putin said.

After the end of the summit, on October 25, Putin said that Russian forces were surrounded in the Kursk region by about 2 thousand servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in an area of ​ ​ about 6 by 15 km. According to him, the RF Armed Forces "have created a fairly reliable encirclement ring and are now compressing this ring, have begun to liquidate this group" of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

A day later, there was a message about the increase in the pace of the offensive by Russian troops. According to Putin, the Center group advanced 5-6 km in the Red Army direction at a front 23 km long.

Putin also warned the West that long-range weapons attacks on Russian territory could technically only be carried out by NATO troops, not Ukraine. Earlier it was emphasized that such attacks would mean the direct involvement of the West in the conflict and a direct clash between the Russian Federation and the NATO alliance. The President expressed the hope that they heard his warnings.

Speaking at a press conference following the BRICS summit, Putin said that the representative of the Turkish president offered Russia to discuss Ukraine's proposals for peace talks, Moscow agreed, but Kyiv eventually refused its own proposals.

"And before that it was the same. Prior to that, Turkey also took the initiative on the situation in the Black Sea - to ensure safe freedom of navigation, to conclude certain agreements and agreements on the safety of nuclear energy facilities. And we agreed. And then the head of the Kyiv regime publicly stated: no negotiations... Well, how to understand this? "- asked the Russian leader.

In a conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the summit, Putin cited Zelensky's refusal to negotiate, noting that the Russian side was ready for them. "It was more than once, and every time these negotiations were tied up and led to some result, the Kyiv regime, as the people say, crawled away from the agreement," said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

According to Lavrov, the President confirmed that Russia "appreciates the desire of China, Brazil and other strategic partners from the countries of the global South to seek peaceful ways to resolve this conflict."