President Vladimir Putin cautioned Thursday that attempts to beat Russia on the battlefieldwere illusory, remarks made ahead of hisfirst meeting with UN chief Antonio Guterres in more than 2 years.Putin was speaking in the Tatarstan capital of Kazan on the last day of the BRICS summit, a forum Moscow hopes will assist forge an unified front of emerging economies versus Western hegemony.
Moscows adversaries do not hide their objective to deal our country a strategic defeat , Putin stated at the top.
I will say straight that these are illusory calculations, that can be made just by those who do not understand Russias history.
Also present at Thursdays conference wasChinese President Xi Jinping, who said the world faces severe obstacles and expressed hope that BRICScould be a stabilizing force for peace.
We require to continue to promote a ceasefire in Gaza, relaunch the two-state solution and stop the spread of war in Lebanon, Xi said.
There ought to be no more suffering and damage in Palestine and Lebanon.
Putin, also weighing in on Israels attack on Gaza, said the Middle East was on the brink of full-scale war.
The Kremlin leader faced calls this week from his BRICS allies to end the war in Ukraine, with member countries like India and China previously trying to broker a ceasefire between Moscow and Kyiv.UN chief Guterres, in his turn, has repeatedly slammed the major intrusion of Ukraine, saying it sets a unsafe precedent for the world.Putin last consulted with Guterres in the first weeks of the war, when the UN chief visited Moscow during Russias siege of Mariupol in southern Ukraine.Guterres has since been associated with peace efforts between the 2 sides, helping to broker an offer that allowed Kyiv to safely export grain from its ports in 2022.