EU Spokesman: BRICS Summit Did Not Allow Putin to Break Out of International Isolation

At a briefing in Brussels, EU spokesman Peter Stano said that the outcome documents of the BRICS summit (the association of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) show another failure of Russian leader Vladimir Putin's attempt to use Russia's presidency in the organisation to break out of international isolation, Ukrinform reports.

‘We have taken note of the Kazan BRICS Declaration. This whole summit was an attempt by Putin to abuse Russia's rotating presidency in this organisation to try to get out of international isolation. But if we look at the Kazan Declaration, there is no unified position on Russia's ongoing aggressive war against Ukraine, instead it refers to the ‘national positions’ of the member states. This reference demonstrates that Russia's attempt to get any support (for its aggression against Ukraine - ed.) in the BRICS format has failed again. This is yet another proof and example of Russia's international isolation in connection with its criminal war against Ukraine,’ the EU spokesperson said.

Answering journalists' questions, he noted that the EU does not take the provisions of the Kazan BRICS Declaration condemning and calling for the lifting of “unilateral unlawful sanctions” personally, as all restrictive measures applied by the EU are justified and based on EU and international law.

‘EU sanctions are based on law, they are legal decisions taken in accordance with EU law, binding on the EU and its citizens. These sanctions are applied only when there are proven violations of human rights, democratic norms and international law. Therefore, EU restrictive measures are never applied against people, countries or institutions that are not involved in violations of international law or human rights. Among the BRICS members, there are several countries that are subject to EU sanctions, but this is done for very well-founded reasons,’ Stano said.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry, in turn, said that during the BRICS summit in Russia, Putin failed to impose his point of view on Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

In the final declaration of the BRICS summit, its participants only recalled their national positions on the situation in Ukraine and reaffirmed their commitment to the goals and principles of the UN Charter, peaceful settlement and diplomacy.