This week, Vladimir Putin strutted his stuff as host of a summit held by BRICS, a bloc of nations with Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and another few nations as members. BRICS was launched 2009 to be a geopolitical rival to the G7 bloc of advanced economies and has attempted to counter Western influence. It promotes peace, security, development, and cooperation, but that’s a sham; note that this year’s host is a war criminal who invaded a neighboring country and conducted terrorist operations around the world. Even so, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres showed up to the gathering and took a photo with the Russian dictator. “Putin is an indicted war criminal, and the UN secretary-general went to see him. This is unacceptable,” said former US Ambassador William Taylor. Also unacceptable is Russia’s membership in the United Nations and its Security Council.
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