After the start of a special military operation on In 2022, the West imposed numerous economic sanctions on Ukraine against Russia, blocked access to the global banking system and tried to diplomatically isolate it from the rest of the world.

The summit will allow Mr Xi and Mr Putin to flaunt their close relationship. The two, who announced a “no-limits” partnership weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, already have met at least twice this year, in Beijing in May and at a SCO summit in Kazakhstan in July.

BRICS summit in Kazan brings together Putin, Xi, Modi, Erdogan, and Pezeshkian, reflecting Russia's defiance of Western isolation and the bloc's growing influence.View on euronews

Russia wants the BRICS summit to showcase the rising clout of the non-Western world, but Moscow's partners from China, India, Brazil and the Arab world are urging President Vladimir Putin to find a way to end the war in Ukraine.

Russia invited dozens of world leaders, along with UN chief Guterres, to BRICS+ summit in a bid to show that Moscow is not isolated on the global stage over its war in Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin is pulling a power move. Nearly three years after the world slammed Russia with sanctions for invading Ukraine, Putin is hosting the BRICS summit—a massive three-day gathering in Kazan.