Putin will try to build very important line for him: political analyst on BRICS summit

He expressed this opinion in an interview with Antin Borkovskyi, host of the Studio West program.

"Vladimir Putin will undoubtedly use the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) summit to build a very important line for him that will lead to success at the October BRICS summit in Kazan. This BRICS summit is an extremely important diplomatic and political event for Putin. There is a struggle around the summit. It was supposed to expand the membership of the BRICS countries. The Kremlin has been actively playing with the applications submitted by various countries. Now it has been decided that there will be no expansion. But, nevertheless, it is in Kazan that Putin is going to demonstrate that he has the support of the countries of the so-called global South. And on the sidelines of the SCO summit, I think the main goal of the Kremlin's diplomacy is to prepare for the summit in Kazan," commented Alexander Morozov.

According to him, the situation was determined after Vladimir Putin, upon taking office, issued an ultimatum, i.e., formulated his vision of ending the war in four points. This ultimatum leaves no room for diplomacy for China, Hungary, or Turkey, because Putin has formulated it in its final form.

"Putin's demand includes full recognition, through international treaties, of the annexation of the occupied territories. Of course, China cannot act here because it recognizes the territorial integrity of all countries, including Ukraine. This is maintained in Chinese foreign policy quite strictly. In this ultimatum, Putin demands that Ukraine acquire a neutral status, a non-nuclear status, and refuse military and technical cooperation, relying only on its own military and technical capabilities. In other words, Putin is offering Finlandization, to use an old Cold War word," the political scientist said.

In his opinion, this demand cannot be fulfilled in any way, because the very war that Putin started has led not only to Ukraine but also to other countries, such as Finland and Sweden, joining NATO.

"And that is why voices have now been heard, in particular from Hungarian Prime Minister Orban and Turkish President Erdogan, calling for a truce. This is the only thing that remains in the hands of various representatives of the world political scene - to simply ask Putin the question: don't you want to call a truce? As a matter of fact, something may have happened at the SCO summit, at some bilateral talks," Morozov summarized.

• In January, five new countries - Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, and the UAE - officially joined and became full members of the interstate association called BRICS.
• On May 28, the Thai government approved a draft letter of intent to join the BRICS bloc. This year, Russia chairs the organization and organizes the summit in Kazan.