Russian President Vladimir Putin will be shaking hands this week with multiple world leaders, including China’s Xi Jinping, India’s Narendra Modi, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iran’s Masoud Pezeshkian. They will all be in the Russian city of Kazan on Tuesday for a meeting of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, defying predictions that the war in Ukraine and an international arrest warrant against Putin would turn him into a pariah. The alliance, which aims to counterbalance the Western-led world order, initially included Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa but started to rapidly expand this year. Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia joined in January; Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia formally applied, and a number of others expressed a desire to be members. Russian officials already see the meeting as a massive success. Putin’s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said 36 countries confirmed participation, and more than 20 will send heads of state. Putin will hold around 20 bilateral meetings, Ushakov said, and the summit could turn into “the largest foreign policy event ever held” on Russian soil. On the sidelines of the summit, Putin also will meet Thursday with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Ushakov said. It will be the first visit to Russia in more than two years for Guterres, who has repeatedly criticized Russia’s war in Ukraine. Optics and deals for the Kremlin Analysts say the Kremlin wants the optics of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with its global allies amid continued tensions with the West, as well as the practicality of negotiating deals with them to shore up Russia’s economy and its war effort. For the other participants, it’s a chance to amplify their voices and narratives. “The beauty of BRICS is that it doesn’t put too many obligations on you,” said Alexander Gabuyev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center. “There are not that many strings attached, really, to being part of BRICS. And at the same time, there might be interesting opportunities coming your way, including just having more face time with all of these leaders.” For Putin, the summit is important personally because it shows the failure of Western efforts to isolate him, Gabuyev said. The gathering will demonstrate at home and abroad that “Russia is really an important player that is leading this new group that will end the Western dominance -– that’s his personal narrative,” he said. The Kremlin will be able to talk to major players like India and China about expanding trade and bypassing Western sanctions. India is an important market for Russian commodities, while China is where Moscow hopes to source dual-use and various military-related goods, Gabuyev said. Russia also wants more countries participating in a payment system project that would be an alternative to the global bank messaging network SWIFT, allowing Moscow to trade with partners without worrying about sanctions. “The Russian idea is that if you create a platform where there is China, Russia, India and Brazil and Saudi Arabia, many countries that are vital partners for the U.S., the U.S. will not be ready to go after this platform and sanction it,” Gabuyev said. Goals for Iran and China Russia is also expected to sign a “comprehensive strategic partnership” treaty with Iran, bolstering the increasingly close ties between Moscow and Tehran. After the invasion of Ukraine, Iran provided Moscow with hundreds of […]