World leaders called for peace in the Middle East and Ukraine at the BRICS summit in Russia on Wednesday, as President Vladimir Putin told them he welcomed offers to mediate in the Ukraine conflict.

The Russian leader is casting the gathering as a sign that Western attempts to isolate Moscow have failed, but faced direct calls to end the Ukraine conflict from some of his closest and most important partners.

The meeting of around 20 world leaders in the central city of Kazan is the largest diplomatic forum held in Russia since Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in 2022.

Starting in 2009 with four members — Brazil, Russia, India and China — BRICS has expanded to include other emerging nations such as South Africa, Egypt and Iran.

In a joint statement, the group said it was “deeply concerned about ongoing conflicts and instability in the Middle East and North African region.”

It also criticised Israeli attacks on UN staff in southern Lebanon and urged that Lebanon’s “territorial integrity” be “preserved.”

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At a plenary session earlier on Wednesday, leaders had lined up to call for peace in both the Middle East and Ukraine.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian urged BRICS members to “use all their collective and individual capacities to end the war in Gaza and Lebanon”.

Chinese President Xi Jinping Xi repeated his call for a ceasefire, saying: “We need to… stop the killing and work tirelessly for a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian issue.”

And Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also called for escalation in both the Middle East and Ukraine to be avoided.

“As we face two wars that have the potential to become global, it is essential to restore our ability to work together toward common goals,” he said in an address to the summit via video conference.

– Mediation offers –

The European Union on Wednesday urged BRICS members to use to forum to pressure Putin to “immediately” halt his offensive on Ukraine.

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In private bilateral talks, Putin welcomed offers by several BRICS leaders to mediate in Ukraine, even as he told them his forces were advancing on the battlefield, his spokesman said Wednesday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also told reporters Putin had also used the meetings to tout “the very positive dynamics on the front for the Russian armed forces”.

Russian troops have been slowly advancing in eastern Ukraine for much of 2024, though neither side has been able to make a decisive breakthrough.

Xi, a key Putin ally, told the summit there must be “no escalation of fighting” in Ukraine.

“We must adhere to the three principles of ‘no spillover from the battlefield, no escalation of fighting and no adding oil to the fire by relevant parties’, so as to ease the situation as soon as possible,” Xi said.

Without referring to any specific conflict, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also issued a call for peace.

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“We support dialogue and diplomacy, not war,” he said.

Brazil’s Lula said it was “crucial” to open peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv.

– Multipolar order –

Xi and Modi have previously touted their own peace initiatives for Ukraine, though there has appeared to be little progress.

Putin has demanded Ukraine effectively capitulate by ceding more territory in its east and south as a precondition to ceasefire talks.

Kyiv has ruled out giving up land in exchange for peace and currently occupies part of Russian territory following a brazen cross-border summer offensive.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, also casting himself as a possible peacemaker, will hold talks with Putin later on Wednesday, while UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will meet the Kremlin leader a day later.

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Moscow sees the BRICS platform as an alternative to Western-led international organisations like the G7.

In opening remarks to the summit, Putin said the process of “forming a multipolar world order is underway, a dynamic and irreversible process.”

Xi and Modi also used the summit to hold their first formal meeting in five years, days after the neighbouring countries reached a deal on their contested border. .

Xi said it was their “fundamental interests” that the two sides “strengthen communication and cooperation”.

The BRICS group also called for the Global South to be given a bigger role on the world stage and more deeply integrated into international “decision-making” platforms.

AFP