The summit’s final document said little about the Ukraine war, but several participants were still searching for a way to end it diplomatically.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has presented himself as the leader of an international coalition of states at the BRICS summit in Kazan, a city of millions on the Volga River. In the official opening photo,

Yuri Ushakov, foreign policy aide to Putin, stated that 36 countries have confirmed their participation, with over 20 planning to send their heads of state, the Associated Press reported. The 2024 summit coincides with the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank, the two Bretton-Woods institutions that BRICS positions itself as an alternative to.