KAZAN: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday warned against “illusory” attempts to defeat Russia militarily on the battlefield ahead of his first meeting with UN chief Antonio Guterres in more than two years for talks set to focus on the conflict in Ukraine.
While addressing the last BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, Putin said, “Russia’s opponents do not conceal their aim to deal our country a strategic defeat. I will say directly that these are illusory calculations, that can be made only by those who do not know Russia’s history.”
The remarks came shortly after the Russian parliament ratified a defence pact with North Korea, amid reports that Pyongyang has sent thousands of troops to Russia for training and potential deployment in Ukraine.
The defence treaty includes provisions for “mutual assistance” in case either nation faces external aggression. The move has sparked concern among Western nations, which believe North Korea is supplying Moscow with weapons for its war in Ukraine.
The summit of BRICS nations, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, is being viewed by Moscow as an opportunity to consolidate ties with emerging economies and counterbalance Western influence.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, speaking at the summit, emphasized the need for peace, particularly in the Middle East, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the two-state solution. He also warned about “serious challenges” to global stability and urged BRICS nations to act as a “stabilizing force for peace.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian criticized the UN Security Council for failing to prevent the escalating conflicts in both Ukraine and the Middle East. “International bodies lack the necessary efficiency to extinguish the fire of this crisis,” Pezeshkian said.
Putin, meanwhile, highlighted the precarious state of the Middle East, warning that the region was “on the verge of full-scale war.”
UN Secretary-General Guterres, who has repeatedly condemned Russia’s actions in Ukraine, met with Putin for the first time since the early stages of the war. Guterres has consistently criticized Moscow’s military campaign, warning that it sets a “dangerous precedent” for global conflict.
Ukraine has strongly condemned Guterres’s decision to meet with Putin. The Ukrainian foreign ministry expressed outrage, accusing the UN chief of meeting with a “criminal” and denouncing any form of legitimization of Moscow’s actions. Ukraine has also criticized Putin’s demands for territorial concessions in the south and east of Ukraine as a precondition for a ceasefire, calling these demands “absurd.”
