Authors: Vladimir Soldatkin and Guy Faulconbridge
KAZAN, Russia (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin told BRICS leaders on Thursday that the Middle East was on the brink of full-scale war after a piercing rise in tensions between Israel and Iran, although the Kremlin chief also faced calls to end the war in Ukraine.
The BRICS summit, attended by more than 20 leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan, demonstrated the depth of Russia’s relationships beyond the Western world.
Much of the discussion at the summit in Russia’s Kazan was devoted to the war in Ukraine and violence in the Middle East, although there was no indication that any concrete action would be taken to end either conflict.
“The degree of confrontation between Israel and Iran has increased dramatically. “All this resembles a chain reaction and puts the entire Middle East on the brink of full-scale war,” said Putin, sitting next to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Xi, speaking after Putin, said China wanted a political settlement in Ukraine and suggested that joint efforts by Beijing and Brazil offered the best chance for peace.
“We must work to de-escalate the situation early and pave the way for a political settlement,” Xi said.
On the Middle East, Xi said there should be a comprehensive ceasefire in Gaza, an end to the spread of the war in Lebanon and a return to a two-state solution that would create the states of both Israel and Palestine.
“FLAMES OF WAR”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian criticized international organizations, especially the United Nations, for failing to end the conflict.
“The flames of war continue to rage in the Gaza Strip and the cities of Lebanon, and international institutions, in particular the UN Security Council, the driving force of international peace and security, lack the necessary effectiveness to extinguish the fire of this crisis,” Pezeshkian told BRICS.
Putin said that if Palestinians do not get their state, they will feel the brunt of “historical injustice” and the region will remain in “an atmosphere of permanent crisis with inevitable recurrences of large-scale violence.”
In their summit declaration, BRICS leaders called for the establishment of a sovereign, independent and indefinite Palestinian state within the 1967 borders. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas participated in the summit.
At one of the BRICS+ meetings on Thursday, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar replaced Modi, who also missed one of the group photos. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he cannot travel to Russia because of a head injury.
China, which together with India buys about 90% of Russian oil, has supported the joining of additional Global South countries in the BRICS group in various formats, Xi said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, criticized by Kiev for attending the meeting in Russia, said that peace is needed in Gaza, Lebanon, Sudan and Ukraine.
“We need peace in Ukraine,” Guterres said during the BRICS+ meeting chaired by Putin. “A just peace in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, international law and the resolutions of the UN General Assembly.”
