The Russian president has joined the plenary session of the group’s 17th summit via videolink Russian President Vladimir Putin is delivering a speech at the plenary session of the 17th BRICS summit. The annual two-day gathering of the group kicked off on Sunday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which currently holds the group’s rotating presidency. This year, the Russian delegation is led by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Putin has joined the plenary session – ‘Strengthening Multilateralism, Economic-Financial Affairs, and Artificial Intelligence’ – via videolink.Brazil has named six priorities for this year’s agenda – global health cooperation; trade, investment, and finance; climate change; AI governance; reform of the multilateral peace and security system; and institutional development within BRICS.This year’s summit brings together around 4,000 participants from 37 nations, including senior dignitaries from member states, partner countries, and international bodies.