On the final day of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russian President Vladimir Putin will host a BRICS Plus outreach meeting. On Thursday, Putin is also set to hold a press conference, summarizing the three-day summit and answering questions from the media.
The BRICS Plus outreach format expands beyond the BRICS “core” members, including nearly 40 nations. Among the participants in Kazan will be leaders from countries across the CIS, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America, as well as representatives of international organizations.
Putin had previously highlighted that the agenda of this broader meeting will cover issues such as sustainable development, poverty eradication, peaceful conflict resolution, counterterrorism, tackling transnational crime, climate change adaptation, supply chain stability, and the exchange of technology and knowledge. He emphasized that these are topics that directly impact the lives of citizens and therefore require collective action.
Special attention will be given to the heightened tensions in the Middle East, according to Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s aide. Ushakov mentioned that due to the length of the discussions, the outreach meeting will be divided into two parts: a formal session at the table followed by continued discussions during a working lunch.
Summit Conclusions
Putin's press conference is scheduled after the BRICS Plus outreach session and is expected to be a major event, with a large number of journalists, including representatives from both Russian and foreign media outlets. As Maria Zakharova, the official spokesperson for Russia's Foreign Ministry, noted, even media from countries considered “unfriendly” to Russia have been accredited to cover the summit.
After speaking to the press, Putin will continue his series of bilateral meetings, which have been ongoing since the summit’s first day. The Russian leader has made efforts to personally engage with almost every attending head of state.
The summit also included a range of other high-level events, such as an informal leaders' dinner, two key working sessions (one in a smaller and one in an expanded format), and an official reception hosted by Putin. The positions agreed upon by the BRICS nations were formalized in the Kazan Declaration, adopted and published on Wednesday.
BRICS was established in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India, and China, with South Africa joining in 2011. As of January 1, 2024, Egypt, Iran, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Ethiopia have become full members of the group.
The BRICS summit in Kazan marks one of the largest gatherings of global leaders in Russia in recent years, comparable to the G20 summit in St. Petersburg in 2013 and the Russia-Africa summits held in Sochi and St. Petersburg in 2019 and 2023, respectively.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS