The meeting marks the largest gathering of international leaders in Russia since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The BRICS summit in Russia will be the "the largest foreign policy event ever held" by Russia, Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov has said. The summit with include 36 countries with over 20 represented by heads of state.

Russia is hosting a BRICS summit for the first time, with 4 new members. But efforts to rival the West will be hard, geopolitics experts told BI.