00:00We continue on the topic of the BRICS Summit. We go now live to Kazan with
00:03our Special Envoy Yunus Ă–ner for the latest information.
00:12Good evening from the city of Kazan in the Russian Federation, where the BRICS Summit is
00:18getting into motion. Today, within an hour or so, the official welcoming ceremony will be held here,
00:29but still, leaders are arriving. Just minutes ago, I saw the Indonesian President arriving
00:36at the airport of Kazan, which has been live-streamed here in the Convention Centre,
00:41where we are at, where this summit takes place. During the day, dozens of leaders have arrived
00:48here in the city, members of BRICS, as well as other leaders whose countries would like to join
00:57this alliance. In total, 36 countries will participate in this summit, 22 at the level
01:05of head of government or head of state. So, what happened during this day? Mostly,
01:11bilateral meetings, and most of them taking place with the Russian President Vladimir Putin,
01:17as his country has the chairmanship in this year of BRICS. So, Putin welcomed the Prime Minister
01:25of India, Narendra Modi, and they had a very warm meeting. As it was reflected by their statements,
01:35Putin said, we have so good relations, I quote, that we don't need a translator.
01:41Modi replied, smiling, and after the meeting, he stated on social media that his meeting with
01:48Putin was wonderful, end of quote. Similarly, the President of South Africa qualified after
01:56his meeting with the Russian President that Russia is a valuable ally of his country.
02:03The Chinese President Xi Jinping also arrived today here and had his bilateral meeting with
02:09Vladimir Putin. Xi Jinping spoke of tectonic shifts in the global order, but emphasised
02:17the strategic relationship, the strategic alliance between Russia and China, and of course,
02:24in the framework of BRICS as well. Other leaders also met with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
02:32An important leader who arrived today here in the city of Kazan was Palestinian President
02:38Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas has been in Moscow and has held there already meetings with Putin before,
02:45and he was invited there to attend the BRICS summit here. And here, in that context,
02:51it is worth mentioning that his ambassador to Moscow back in summer had, in an interview given
02:58to the local media, mentioned or declared his country's, Palestine's, ambition to join the BRICS
03:05as well. Well, that would be an important step, obviously, as the other multilateral organisations
03:13fail to assist Palestine in its defence against Israeli aggression. Speaking of which,
03:20another important guest will be the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres,
03:26important because he has not been visiting Russia since 2022, the year that the war in Ukraine
03:35started. And his announcement to attend BRICS summit was criticised harshly by the Ukrainian
03:42presidency. Almost he was labelled as a traitor, a treatment which reminds of actually Benjamin
03:50Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister's reaction or criticism against the UN Secretary-General.
03:56So, he will also attend this meeting, which tonight begins with a welcoming ceremony and
04:02a cultural programme. The leaders will have a dinner together. Tomorrow, the programme starts
04:09officially and fully with two different sessions talking about the matter of BRICS expansion.
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