Johannesburg – Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised to deliver a spectacular 16th BRICS Summit next year.
Next year, Russia is set to take over the chair of the BRICS Summit, and in his speech during the leaders engagement session of the BRICS Summit, Putin said he will use next year's summit to host BRICS games and other activities to highlight the cultural dynamic and people-to-people exchanges with his other partners in the BRICS bloc.
According to Putin, the activities earmarked for next year include more than 200 cultural, political, and social events hosted in a dozen Russian cities and regions, which will precede the actual summit in Kazan sometime in October 2024.
"Cultural and civilisational diversity is one of the pillars of a new multi-polar world order and the establishment of free cultural spaces and creativity. It is high time for partners of the BRICS to have a serious conversation in the future," Putin said.
Putin once again delivered his address through a video link during a session chaired by President Cyril Ramaphosa as part of the second day of the 15 BRICS Summit at the Sandton Convention Centre on Wednesday.
He said during the summit, which was yet to be confirmed, there would be an array of festivities and engagements across the different states in Russia.
"In June 2024, we plan to have the BRICS games. We will be happy to welcome members from the BRICS nations, where we will also have the games of the future, where a range of dynamic sporting codes and popular video games will take place," Putin said.
He said Russia would work with its partners to ensure that its chairmanship of the summit was a success.
"We plan to interact with our BRICS partners during Russia's chairmanship," he said.
Putin added that the summit comes at a time when there are pressing issues across the globe where issues of global and regional importance were being dictated to by those who push their own hegemony against others.
He further stated that this has resulted in war and strife in Ukraine and other parts of the globe.
"The principles of the UN Charter include the development of some countries to promote their hegemony and neocolonialism agenda. I would like to note that the right to preserve hegemony has led to a direct crisis in Ukraine with the help of Western countries. Those who disagreed have been unleashed with a war," he said.
Putin also thanked the other BRICS countries for their support of the Russian Federation during the war against Ukraine and the attacks against it by the Western media.
"We thank our BRICS countries and partners who have taken part in putting an end to this situation and called for settlement through peaceful means," Putin added.
The Russian leader reiterated his call for BRICS countries to remain committed to world peace in the face of power shifts in the global landscape.
"We are shaping a multi-polar world governed by international law. The BRICS are home to 3 billion people. Over the past decade, BRICS investment has increased and reached 20% of global trade," he said.
The Star