KAZAN, Russia: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres arrived in Russia on Wednesday to attend the BRICS summit, his first visit to the country for more than two years that has drawn scorn from Ukraine.
The gathering is the largest diplomatic forum in Russia since launching its full-scale military offensive on Ukraine in 2022 and President Vladimir Putin wants to use it to demonstrate that attempts to isolate him on the world stage have failed.
Around 20 world leaders, including China, India, Turkiye and Iran, are in the central city of Kazan, where they will address topics such as developing a BRICS-led international payment system and the conflict in the Middle East.
Moscow sees the platform as an alternative to Western-led international organizations like the G7 — a position supported by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In bilateral talks on Tuesday, including with Xi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Putin hailed Moscow’s close ties and “strategic partnerships” with its partners.
Xi, meanwhile, praised China’s “profound” ties with Russia in what he called a “chaotic” world.
Russia and China’s relations have “injected strong impetus into the development, revitalization and modernization of the two countries,” Xi said.
Putin said he saw relations between Beijing and China as a foundation of global “stability.”
“Russian-Chinese cooperation in world affairs acts as one of the stabilising factors in the global arena. We intend to further increase coordination in all multilateral platforms to ensure global security and a just world order,” he told Xi.
The leaders will hold a summit session on Wednesday where they are expected to tout the organization’s role in bolstering what Moscow and Beijing regularly refer to as a “multipolar world order.”
Underpinning his vision of the BRICS challenge to the West, Putin will hold separate talks with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian and Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday.
He will also meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkiye, a NATO member, is also casting itself as a possible mediator between Russia and Ukraine and strives for warm relations with Moscow.
Guterres will hold talks with Putin on Thursday, where the pair will discuss the Ukraine conflict, the Kremlin said.
Kyiv has railed against UN chief Guterres’ trip.
“The UN Secretary General declined Ukraine’s invitation to the first Global Peace Summit in Switzerland. He did, however, accept the invitation to Kazan from war criminal Putin,” its foreign ministry said in a post on X.
Guterres’ spokesperson said the trip was part of the UN chief’s regular attendance at “organizations with large numbers of important member states,” and said it offered a chance to “reaffirm his well known positions” on the Ukraine conflict “and the conditions for just peace.”
Modi, who is also casting himself as a possible peacemaker, called for a quick end to the conflict during talks with Putin on Tuesday.
“We have been in constant touch over the conflict between Russia and Ukraine,” Modi told Putin after the two shook hands and embraced.
“We believe that disputes should only be resolved peacefully. We totally support efforts to quickly restore peace and stability,” the Indian leader added.
India has walked a delicate tightrope since the Ukraine conflict began, pledging humanitarian support for Kyiv while avoiding explicit condemnation of Moscow’s actions.
Moscow has been steadily advancing on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine this year as it strengthens ties with the likes of China, Iran and North Korea.
UN chief in Russia for Putin’s BRICS summit
https://arab.news/5q8z4
UN chief in Russia for Putin’s BRICS summit
- Moscow sees the BRICS platform as an alternative to Western-led international organizations like the G7
- UN chief Antonio Guterres’s visit to Russia has drawn scorn from Ukraine
Palestine Action hunger strike prisoner loses ability to speak
- Heba Muraisi unable to ‘form sentences’ as she feels ‘weaker as each day passes’
- Fellow activist Teuta Hoxha ‘virtually bedridden’ as hunger strike continues
LONDON: A prisoner on hunger strike in the UK, detained for activities in support of the banned group Palestine Action, has lost the ability to speak, The Independent reported.
Heba Muraisi said in a statement that she can no longer “form sentences, and (is) struggling to maintain conversation.” She added via the Prisoners for Palestine group that she feels “weaker as each day passes.”
Campaigners say another prisoner on hunger strike now cannot stand up. Eight activists initially went on strike awaiting trial for a range of alleged offenses relating to Palestine Action, including violence and criminal damage.
Earlier this month two of the activists, Qesser Zuhrah and Amu Gib, paused their strikes after 48 days and were admitted to hospital.
As well as Muraisi, three others remain on hunger strike: Teuta Hoxha, Kamran Ahmed and Lewie Chiaramello.
Hoxha, according to Prisoners for Palestine, is “no longer able to stand without blacking out,” experiences “increasing levels of brain fog” and is “virtually bedridden.”
The hunger strikers are demanding immediate bail and to be allowed to “send and receive communications without restriction, surveillance, or interference from the prison administration.”
The eight have been charged over two incidents, a break-in at a Royal Air Force base in June that saw two military aircraft damaged, and a break-in at a facility owned by Israeli-linked defense company Elbit Systems UK on Nov. 19, 2024.
A spokesperson for Prisoners for Palestine said: “Unlike the prison guards, who lock up the prisoners early to go home to their Christmas dinner, the hunger strikers don’t get a Christmas break.
“Just like the Christians in Gaza, who continue to suffer in the freezing cold at the hands of the settler-colonial entity.
“The hunger strikers say to us, don’t forget the people of Palestine over Christmas, and continue to demand a meeting with the British government on their behalf.”
Lawyers acting for the eight have said they risk death if their strike continues and the government does not intervene.
Earlier this month, protests took place led by MP Zarah Sultana over claims that Zuhrah had been refused an ambulance, and the hunger strikers’ legal teams have begun action against the government over what they say are breaches of its own prison safety policy framework.
Prisons Minister James Timpson said: “We are very experienced at dealing with hunger strikes. Unfortunately, over the last five years we have averaged over 200 hunger strike incidents every year and the processes that we have are well-established and they work very well — with prisons working alongside our NHS (National Health Service) partners every day, making sure our systems are robust and working — and they are.
“I am very clear. I don’t treat any prisoners differently to others. That is why we will not be meeting any prisoners or their representatives.
“We have a justice system that is based on the separation of powers, and the independent judiciary is the cornerstone of our system.”
