Putin reveals disagreement with Brazil over Venezuela and defends Maduro's victory

247 - The positions of Russia and Brazil regarding Venezuela do not coincide, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday (24). The statement comes amid Brazilian resistance to including the Latin American country in the bloc of emerging nations, as requested by President Nicolás Maduro's government.

"Our positions do not coincide with those of Brazil on the issues concerning Venezuela. I am speaking openly about this," Putin said at a press conference after the BRICS summit held in Kazan, Russia, adding that he hopes relations between Brazil and Venezuela will be normalized soon.

Russia believes that Maduro won the elections fairly, Putin said. "Regarding the admission of Venezuela or any other state into BRICS, I want to say that this is only possible by consensus. We have a rule that, to accept any candidate to this organization, to the BRICS association, the consent of all participants is required. It is not possible to take such a step without it," Putin concluded.

Earlier on Thursday, Putin stated that Maduro is strengthening the country's sovereignty, and the nation is showing strong development during the final meeting of the BRICS summit in the BRICS Plus/Outreach format.

"Under your leadership, Venezuela continues the policy of Commander [Hugo] Chávez to strengthen the country's sovereignty and shows strong development," Putin said to Maduro.

Kazan hosted a high-level BRICS summit from October 22 to 24, as part of Russia's rotating presidency of the bloc in 2024. Maduro was one of the invited heads of state and received Russian support for his candidacy but faced resistance from Brazil, which did not officially recognize the election results in Venezuela, according to media reports.

BRICS is an intergovernmental association created in 2006. Russia assumed the rotating presidency of the bloc on January 1, 2024. The year began with the accession of new members to the association. In addition to Russia, Brazil, India, China, and South Africa, it now includes Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, according to the Russian BRICS 2024 presidency website. Media reports indicated that Saudi Arabia has not yet formalized its participation but has been taking part in BRICS meetings. (With information from Sputnik).