Yuri Ushakov, foreign policy aide to Putin, stated that 36 countries have confirmed their participation, with over 20 planning to send their heads of state, the Associated Press reported. The 2024 summit coincides with the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank, the two Bretton-Woods institutions that BRICS positions itself as an alternative to.

After the start of a special military operation on In 2022, the West imposed numerous economic sanctions on Ukraine against Russia, blocked access to the global banking system and tried to diplomatically isolate it from the rest of the world.

The summit will allow Mr Xi and Mr Putin to flaunt their close relationship. The two, who announced a “no-limits” partnership weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, already have met at least twice this year, in Beijing in May and at a SCO summit in Kazakhstan in July.