On the one hand, the BRICS summit was Putin's success and to his benefit—it is rare for anyone to gather such a group of world leaders. This meeting demonstrates the West's failure to organize a global international isolation of Putin, just as it failed to create a global coalition regarding sanctions policy.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has presided over a closing session of a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, hailing its role as a counterbalance to the West