Hosting this week’s BRICS summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin had two related objectives: one short-term, the other long.
Most immediately, he wanted to demonstrate his indifference to and defiance of international condemnation for his invasion of Ukraine, launched 2½ years ago, and highlight the support he receives from other countries.
That is linked to his longer-term goal, the creation of a multipolar world that shields nations like Russia from pressures imposed by the United States to conform to its preferred behaviors. The nearly two dozen heads of state that joined Putin in Kazan this week all share his preference for that multipolar world or at least one in which Washington has less power; they are less convinced that his readiness to redraw international borders is a just cause.
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