Moscow/Kazan, Oct 23 (EFE).- The leaders of the BRICS group, including China, India and Brazil, today said no to war in Ukraine and the Middle East during a summit chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who in response attempted to boast about recent Russian successes on the front.
“The Ukrainian crisis is dragging on,” lamented Xi Jinping, Chinese president, during his speech at the group’s plenary session, part of which took place behind closed doors.
The Russian leader pointed out precisely those three powers as possible mediators in future peace negotiations with Ukraine.
“We support dialogue and diplomacy, not war,” said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Kremlin managed to stop the bleeding by reducing allusions to the Ukrainian conflict to a minimum in the final statement, but Putin will have to address this issue on Thursday during his meeting with the UN Secretary General, António Guterres.
De-escalation and peace negotiations in Ukraine
“It is necessary to contribute to a prompt de-escalation in Ukraine,” Xi said and, to this end, he considered it necessary to “stop adding fuel to the fire.”
In addition, he advocated preventing “side effects due to the expansion of hostilities,” as well as avoiding actions that contribute to increasing tensions.
Along the same lines, the Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, defended by videoconference the need to “start peace negotiations” between Russians and Ukrainians.
“Avoiding an escalation and starting peace negotiations is also crucial in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia,” said the leader of Brazil, who together with China presented a six-point settlement plan already rejected by kyiv.
In this regard, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said that many countries have expressed in Kazan their desire to contribute “more actively” to the solution of the conflict.
“We welcome these efforts,” he said.
Putin boasts of successes on the front
Meanwhile, Putin informed the BRICS of the “very, very positive dynamic” for the Russian Army on the battlefield, alluding to the conquest of several Ukrainian strongholds in Donbas.
“Of course, (Putin) highlighted the reluctance of the Ukrainian side to enter into any negotiations,” Peskov said.
The Russian leader has assured on several occasions that he will not sit at the negotiating table with kyiv until Russia expels Ukrainian troops from the Kursk region.
In the final communiqué of the summit, which had 134 sections, Russia managed to mention the word ‘Ukraine’ only once.
«We emphasize that all countries must act in accordance with the objectives and principles of the UN Charter (…) We are pleased to note the corresponding proposals for mediation and good officials aimed at providing a peaceful settlement of the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy”, points out the aseptic point 36.
Ceasefire soon in Gaza
Xi, Lula and the president of Iran, Masud Pezeshkian, also took advantage of the BRICS platform to denounce the dramatic situation in the Middle East.
Pezeshkian, whose country was also attacked by Israel, demanded “an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Palestine and Lebanon.”
In addition, he called for “the complete withdrawal of the troops of the occupying regime (Israel) from the occupied areas and immediate aid to the population of Gaza and those displaced in Lebanon.”
Iran is one of the main allies of the Palestinian group Hamas – one of whose leaders held consultations today in Moscow – and of the Lebanese Hezbollah militia.
For his part, Xi urged “to achieve the cessation of hostilities and murders in Gaza and Lebanon as soon as possible.”
«The humanitarian situation in the Gaza sector continues to worsen, the conflict has resumed (…), in Lebanon, where everything is getting worse. We must achieve a ceasefire as soon as possible, stop the murders,” he said.
And he called for a “just and solid” settlement to the Palestinian problem.
“At a time when we are facing two wars with the potential to become global, it is essential to rescue our ability to work together towards common objectives,” Lula added.
Maduro and Erdogan join the party
Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan was the last to arrive in the Tatar capital. Still, Putin received him in the afternoon and promised to update him on the situation in Ukraine.
At the beginning of the meeting, Putin expressed to his counterpart his condemnation of the terrorist attack perpetrated on Wednesday against an arms factory in Ankara, which, according to Erdogan, left four dead and fourteen injured.
Putin also met with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who made a surprise trip to Kazan.
“We see with admiration the battle that great Russia is waging against Nazism and fascism,” Maduro proclaimed on his first visit abroad since the July crisis.
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