BRICS’ new declaration shows Russia’s war still can’t get the international backing that Moscow wants

Russian President Vladimir Putin is hosting the BRICS summit this year, but the Kazan Declaration shows he’s still not able to get his allies to agree with his view on the war.

More than two dozen world leaders at this year’s BRICS summit ended Wednesday’s talks with the Kazan Declaration, a 134-point summary of their agreements.

The war in Ukraine was mentioned only once in the 43-page document, and though Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted the event, its wording is a far cry from the Kremlin’s preferred rhetoric.

That single paragraph contained none of Russia’s usual talking points, instead urging all parties to act in accordance with United Nations standards — a more neutral statement often used by nations such as China.

“We emphasize that all states should act consistently with the Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter in their entirety and interrelation,” the document reads. “We note with appreciation relevant proposals of mediation and good offices, aimed at a peaceful resolution of the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy.”

The Institute for the Study of War wrote on Wednesday that the language in the document showed that Russia, despite its leading position at the summit, still wasn’t able to shape the stances of friendly world leaders on its war.

“The Kazan Declaration notably only mentioned Russia’s war in Ukraine once,” the Washington think tank wrote.

Russia has denied the sovereignty of Ukraine and said its invasion is justified as a counter to NATO’s expansion and because of debunked allegations that Ukraine is a Nazi-run state.

The declaration “demonstrated that Russia has not yet secured the international support nor created the alternative security structure that the Kremlin desires,” ISW added.

That’s significant because Moscow has been trying to get its allies on board with its invasion while the West isolates the Russian economy in response. The US and Ukraine have repeatedly accused China, a founding BRICS member, of supplying Russia with weapons parts and economic support.

Yet several founding members of the BRICS group, such as Brazil and India, still maintain strong economic ties with the US amid its support for Kyiv.

The Kazan Declaration, meanwhile, condemned Israeli actions in the Middle East in five points, including criticism of a strike on the Iranian consulate in Syria, Tel Aviv’s invasion of southern Lebanon, and the war in Gaza.

World leaders also spent two paragraphs discussing the South Sudanese Civil War.

The summit also exposed the difficulties that Western sanctions have inflicted on life in Russia. Leaders met in Kazan, which is in the southwestern Republic of Tatarstan region.

B-17 reported that card transactions there would be unavailable because of restrictions on Mastercard and Visa cards issued outside Russia.

Organizers instead asked attendees to bring cash in US dollars or euros — the same currencies that Putin has been trying to get his allied countries to drop — to exchange for rubles at Russian banks.