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.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping discussed the war in Ukraine and relations with the West at length on the first day of the BRICS summit, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin calls Chinese President Xi Jinping his ‘dear friend’ Tuesday at a BRICS summit meeting hosted in Kazan