The BRICS summit in Russia will be the "the largest foreign policy event ever held" by Russia, Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov has said. The summit with include 36 countries with over 20 represented by heads of state. Russian President Vladimir Putin has positioned the BRICS summit as a counterweight to the West.

Russia is hosting a BRICS summit for the first time, with 4 new members. But efforts to rival the West will be hard, geopolitics experts told BI.