UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has arrived in Russia to attend the BRICS summit, his first visit to the country in more than two years, drawing scorn from Ukraine.
The gathering is Russia's biggest diplomatic forum since it launched its full-scale military offensive in Ukraine in 2022.
About 20 world leaders, including those of China, India, Turkey and Iran, are in the city of Kazan, where they will address topics such as the development of an international payment system led by BRICS and the conflict in the Middle East.
Moscow sees the platform as an alternative to Western-led international organisations such as the G7.
During bilateral talks, including with Xi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Putin hailed Moscow's close ties and "strategic partnerships" with its partners.
Meanwhile, Xi praised China's "deep" ties with Russia in what he called a "chaotic" world.
Relations between Russia and China "have given a strong impetus to the development, revitalisation and modernisation of the two countries", Xi said.
Putin said he sees Beijing-China relations as the foundation of global "stability."
"Russian-Chinese cooperation in world affairs acts as one of the stabilizing factors in the global arena. We intend to continue to strengthen coordination across all multilateral platforms to ensure global security and a just world order," he told Xi Jinping.
Ukraine war
Leaders will hold a summit today at which they are expected to highlight the organisation's role in strengthening the "multipolar world order".
In support of his vision of the BRICS challenge to the West, Putin will hold separate talks with Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkyan and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
He will also meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Guterres will hold talks with Putin on Thursday, 24 October, at which the two will discuss the conflict in Ukraine, the Kremlin said.
Kiev strongly opposed Guterres' trip.
"The UN secretary-general rejected Ukraine's invitation to the first Global Peace Summit in Switzerland. However, he accepted the invitation to Kazan from war criminal Putin," the Ukrainian foreign ministry said.
Guterres's spokesman said the trip was part of the UN chief's regular attendance at "organisations with a large number of important member states", and said it offered an opportunity to "reaffirm his well-known positions" on the conflict in Ukraine "and the conditions for a just peace".
Modi, who has also emerged as a possible peacemaker, called for a quick end to the conflict during talks with Putin.
"We are in constant touch on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine," Modi told Putin after the two shook hands and hugged.
"We believe that disputes should only be resolved peacefully. We fully support efforts to quickly restore peace and stability," the Indian leader added.
Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, India has been treading a delicate diplomatic line - pledging humanitarian support to Kiev while avoiding explicit condemnation of Moscow's actions.
This year, Moscow has steadily advanced on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine while strengthening ties with countries like China, Iran and North Korea. | BGNES
