BRICS Summit shows drive to isolate Russia failed, US expert says

WASHINGTON, October 29. /TASS/. The BRICS Summit in Kazan showed that Western efforts to isolate Russia in the international arena have failed, Richard Black, former State Senator in the Virginia state legislatue, told TASS.
Black described the summit as “unusually important,” as he noted that the meeting brought together Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the first time in five years. “Turkish President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan’s attendance distressed his NATO partners, who were also irritated when UN Secretary-General [Antonio] Guterres used the conference as a platform to urge peace in Gaza, Lebanon, Ukraine and Sudan,” he stressed.
“Courted by many of the world’s most powerful leaders, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin appeared confident, strong, and victorious after years of attempts to defeat Russia and to oust him,” Black continued. “The respect he commanded at the gala gave weight to his claim that America’s unipolar moment had passed,” he added. According to the expert, the Kazan summit “made crystal-clear that NATO’s drive to isolate Russia had failed.”
“Not only was it not a pariah state, but Russia had become a standout for its military, economic and diplomatic resilience in the face of serious challenges,” Black stated. “Efforts to diplomatically isolate Russia have not succeeded, as underscored by this year’s BRICS conference,” he concluded
The 16th BRICS Summit, the key event of Russia’s chairmanship in the association, was held in Kazan on October 22-24. On the second day of the summit, participants adopted the Kazan Declaration. Among other key issues, the document highlighted the group’s development and its position on global problems and resolving crises, including in Ukraine and the Middle East.