BRICS summit in New Delhi: Ukraine left out of declaration but discussed on the sidelines

At the BRICS summit in New Delhi, where Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met, a final declaration was adopted that does not mention Ukraine once.

The text of the document was published by the Kremlin’s press service.

The BRICS countries separately condemned sanctions imposed without the approval of the UN Security Council.

“We condemn the imposition of unilateral coercive measures that contradict international law,” the declaration states.

The document also references “unilateral economic sanctions and secondary sanctions” and calls for such measures to be lifted.

The declaration covers a wide range of topics: the war in the Middle East, Gaza and the creation of a Palestinian state, Syria and Sudan, terrorism, UN Security Council reform, trade restrictions and tariffs, energy security, climate, artificial intelligence, and digital security. On the Middle East, BRICS called for a halt to escalation, condemned strikes on civilian and nuclear infrastructure, demanded that the ceasefire in Gaza be maintained, and supported the creation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.

Despite Ukraine’s absence from the text of the declaration, the topic of the war was discussed on the sidelines of the summit. The Kremlin reported that Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi, during their meeting with Putin, offered to mediate in the settlement of the conflict. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Putin “welcomed such readiness” and briefed the leaders of China and India on the current situation.

Other Russian officials also made statements on the Ukrainian issue on the sidelines of the summit. Putin said that the deployment of European troops to Ukrainian territory would mean war with Russia. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, for his part, stated that Russia does not intend to suspend hostilities during peace settlement negotiations.