Russian President Vladimir Putin said last night during a visit to India for the BRICS conference that events in Europe, including the victory of the far-right in elections in a German state, are the result of "systemic mistakes" made by globalists in the West.
Putin said he would not comment on Sunday's election result for the AfD party in Saxony-Anhalt, which was the party's best result, but then added that Western elites were responsible for events on the continent, including the elections, Reuters reports.
"I think that everything that is happening in Europe now is, fundamentally, the result of systemic mistakes of the so-called West... Western globalists in politics, security and economics," Putin told reporters, according to a report by journalists covering his trip, on the first day of his visit to India.
Putin complained last night, addressing the BRICS business forum, that the West was resorting to destroying facilities and pipelines, as well as seizing ships, to maintain economic dominance, Reuters reports.
He said that the BRICS' Western competitors are trying to regain their former leadership in an improper manner.
"We have always been told that competition is sacred, something that must not be touched. However, unfortunately, today your Western competitors are trying by all possible means to restore their former leadership. This competition sometimes takes on ugly forms," Putin said, as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Iranian President Masoud Peshmerga and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa listened.
According to him, these forms include "direct physical attacks or destruction of industrial and logistical facilities, pipelines and so on."
Putin said that BRICS would build "a new, sustainable platform for global growth."
Last year's BRICS summit drew the ire of US President Donald Trump, who threatened an additional 10% tariff on countries that align with what he called the BRICS group's "anti-American policies".
Washington has also threatened to impose additional tariffs of 100 percent on countries that continue to buy Russian oil and gas, including major buyers like India and China.
India strengthens partnership with Russia
Earlier, Modi and Putin "exchanged views on... conflicts in the Middle East and the Black Sea region, which have affected maritime trade and the safety and security of Indian seafarers," the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
"The two leaders agreed to remain engaged in efforts to further strengthen the special and privileged strategic partnership between the two countries," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
India, along with China, is one of the largest buyers of Russian oil, which is seen as helping Moscow restore budget revenues since it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and faced broad Western sanctions.
India has sought to resist pressure to reduce trade with Russia, arguing that its large population and economy need secure, affordable and reliable energy supplies, Reuters reports.
India and Russia have said they want to increase bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2030, from nearly $70 billion in 2024/25.
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