Today is the main working day of the BRICS Summit in Brazil. They discuss politics, the economy, and the interaction between BRICS countries. Vladimir Putin will take part in plenary sessions and hold talks with his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro. The meeting of the leaders of Russia, Brazil, India, China, and the SAR began yesterday. Vladimir Putin spoke at the business forum. According to the president, protectionism and unfair competition impede the development of the global economy.
Vladimir Putin: "Of course, we all know that the situation in the global economy remains difficult. Since the beginning of 2018, its growth rate has been continuously decreasing. According to the IMF's forecasts, this year, it'll hit the lowest point in the past ten years. My colleagues who spoke here were right when they said that BRICS countries make a substantial contribution to the support of growth. The wider use of unfair competition practices, unilateral sanctions, including ones imposed for political reasons, and protectionist policies in world trade, undoubtedly affected the global economy. In these circumstances, BRICS countries have to make serious efforts to ensure the development of their economies and prevent the deterioration of the social environment and the decline in the standard of living and well-being of the citizens of our countries".
Vladimir Putin called the energy sector one of the areas to prioritize for cooperation among BRICS countries. The President stressed that Russia is ready to expand cooperation in this area.
Vladimir Putin: "Russia reliably supplies energy resources to world markets and makes a significant contribution to the maintenance of global energy security, which is vital to ensuring economic growth and social development. We're ready to expand our cooperation with BRICS countries in the use of environmentally friendly fuels. Among the most promising areas of joint work are the production of renewable energy sources, the increase in energy efficiency, and the use of natural gas as a motor fuel. I can't but mention that Russia has the most advanced, cleanest, and safest peaceful atom technologies. And we're successfully developing joint projects with our BRICS partners in this area — the PRC and India, first and foremost. We offer mutually beneficial projects in the nuclear power industry to every other BRICS country".
Vladimir Putin held a separate meeting with PRC President Xi Jinping. The Russian president called the relations between Moscow and Beijing a comprehensive strategic partnership. According to him, there are strong ties between the two countries, they aren't affected from the outside and have potential. This is about cooperation in the economy, the international arena, and the military-technical field.
In addition, Vladimir Putin held talks with the Indian prime minister. The Russian president noted that all of the previously reached agreements are being fulfilled. He also invited Narendra Modi to the celebration of the 75th anniversary of Victory Day in Moscow. Modi accepted the invitation. The Indian prime minister posted his feedback about the meeting with his Russian counterpart on the internet. He wrote that Russia and India work together in many areas, and both countries benefit from that. He posted that in Russian. Remarkably, during his visit to the Russian Far East, Narendra Modi had already posted tweets in Russian.
The first day of the summit ended with a gala dinner and a concert. The Brazilian president organized them in honor of BRICS leaders.
The second day's program includes a meeting between BRICS leaders and members of the Business Council and the heads of the New Development Bank.
