Vladimir Putin’s smile vanished from his face as BBC’s Steve Rosenburg stood up to ask the president about ‘justice, stability and security’ in Russia amid the war in Ukraine.
Challenging the Russian leader about his imperialistic ambitions is a risk, but BBC Russia’s editor did not flinch during the press conference that brought the three-day BRICS summit in the city of Kazan to a close.
It was the final question introduced by Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov who smiled as he claimed the BBC was ‘a rare guest these days’.
Rosenburg stepped up to the microphone and directly asked Putin to justify the invasion of Ukraine, now well in its third year.
He added in Russian: ‘Before the beginning of the special military operation, there were no drone attacks against Russian territory, no shelling of Russian cities, no foreign troops occupying Russian territory. It was not there.’
The president looked furious as the journalist delivered his question live on TV.
He responded that Nato’s expansion in Eastern Europe and particularly in Ukraine ‘violates’ Russia’s security, and suggested it was not ‘fair’.
‘I understand what you are talking about,’ Putin told Rosenberg. ‘But in terms of security, is it fair that for years our constant appeals to partners not to expand Nato to the east have been ignored?
‘Is it fair to lie to our face, promising that there will be no such expansion and violating their obligations and their promises to do that?
‘Is it fair to get into our underbelly, like into Ukraine, and start building not just preparing but building military bases? Is that fair?
‘Is it fair to conduct a coup…disregarding international law, all principles of international law and the UN charter? Financing a coup in a different country, in this case in Ukraine, pushing the situation for it to develop into a hot phase.’
Rosenberg also asked the president about recent MI5 intelligence reports that suggest Russian sabotage groups are working on a plan to sustain ‘mayhem on British and European streets’.
Head of MI5 Ken McCallum this month said Putin’s agents have carried out ‘arson, sabotage and more dangerous actions’ in Britain amid the support for Ukraine.
Yet, the president’s response to Rosenberg’s question was short, saying: ‘Well, this is utter rubbish.’
Starting in 2009 with four members – Brazil, Russia, India and China – BRICS has since expanded to include other emerging nations such as South Africa, Egypt and Iran.
The summit scored a series of diplomatic wins this year: the presence of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and of Tayyip Erdogan, president of Nato member Turkey, which has expressed interest in joining the BRICS group.
India and China chose the summit to profile new efforts to nurture ties.
For Putin, the fact that so many leaders travelled to the central city of Kazan for the talks was useful in countering the narrative that his country faces isolation from the global economy.
‘They (Western capitals) are not getting the importance of this thing,’ said Alicia Garcia-Herrero, a senior fellow at the Bruegel economic think tank.
‘It’s all signalling that the West is losing power.’
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