Xi Treads Line Between Russia And West AT BRICS Summit

Chinese President Xi Jinping has continued to plot a cautious line between the US-led Western alliance and overt support of Russia during the virtual BRICS summit today.

• At his keynote speech today Xi urged "the world to reject the Cold War mentality and bloc confrontation, oppose unilateral sanctions and abuse of sanctions, and reject the small circles built around hegemonism."
• Xi also again stated his opposition to the application of "unilateral" sanctions on Russia.
• However, overt support for Russia has been muted. Indian newswires have reported that talks focused on a resolution to the Ukraine crisis rather than potential support for Russia. Niraj Kumar of News18 India writes: "BRICS leaders announced support for talks between Russia and Ukraine."
• Russian President Vladimir Putin may have hoped to use the BRICS summit to demonstrate support for Moscow amongst non-Western countries and Putin previewed the summit with statements of the enhanced cooperation between Russia and BRICS countries but US fears that Beijing may be preparing to throw greater support behind Moscow are yet to materialise. Beijing looks likely to continue doing business with Russia and oppose US "unilateralism" but will stop short of openly backing Moscow.
• According Iranian Mehr News Agency: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will attend the event tomorrow at the invitation of President Xi and deliver a speech.