What does the BRICS summit reveal about Russia's role in the global order?

The ongoing 3-day BRICS summit chaired by Russia signals that Moscow still has the ability to exert global influence despite the Ukraine war and Western sanctions, according to experts, News.Az reports.

As the 2024 chair of BRICS, Russia has welcomed 36 countries in Kazan, the capital of the Turkic-majority semi-autonomous Republic of Tatarstan within the Russian Federation.

“Certainly, it’s true that Russia continues to have global influence to the extent that you have the presence of so many of the countries in Kazan,” says Harsh V Pant, Vice President of Studies and Foreign Policy at the New Delhi-based think tank Observer Research Foundation, and a professor of international relations with King's India Institute at King’s College London.

“BRICS has been an important instrument through which Russia wields this influence across a large part of the world,” Pant tells TRT World , adding that the Kazan meeting shows many countries do not see Russia “as the only guilty party” in the Ukraine conflict, allowing Moscow to engage with countries, particularly, in the Global South.

BRICS, a non-Western bloc originally founded by Russia, China, India, Brazil and South Africa, has recently raised its voice against the US-led global order in different conflicts from Ukraine to Gaza, seeking to consolidate its reach across the globe. Türkiye, a NATO ally, Palestinian Authority and countries like Mexico and Indonesia are also participating, showing Moscow’s diplomatic depth across the international community.

For Russian President Vladimir Putin, this year’s BRICS meeting is full of opportunities as the summit represents “the like-minded nations of the Global South,” which he said makes “the global majority” with an aim to defend “the principles of a just and democratic world order based on international law, sovereignty, and equality”.

News.Az