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Vladimir Putin struggled to contain his anger yesterday as he was challenged by a BBC reporter on his brutal invasion of Ukraine in a press conference that brought his three-day BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan to a fiery close. Since Tuesday, Putin had revelled in his role as host to dozens of world leaders and top officials – including the likes of China’s Xi Jinping and NATO member Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Russian leader had railed against the West’s ‘perverse methods’ for maintaining global control, accusing Western powers of stifling the growth of emerging economies, manipulating stock markets and ‘aggravating old disagreements’.
His sentiments were widely well received by the attendees, and as Putin headed into his final press conference of the summit yesterday, he appeared in good spirits having enjoyed the attention of a largely captive audience.
But he was brought crashing back to reality by the BBC ‘s Steve Rosenberg, who was granted the opportunity to ask the final question of the session. Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov hinted at what was likely to come when he introduced the broadcaster’s man in Moscow , declaring: ‘For the final question of the day I’d like to give the floor to the BBC… A rare guest these days! Steve Rosenberg.’
Rosenberg duly stood, stepped up to the microphone, and calmly put it to Putin that his war in Ukraine was in complete contravention of the tenets underpinning BRICS – that of justice, regional stability and security, and a fair world. ‘How does this all match your actions of the past two and a half years? The invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine – where is the justice, stability and security?’ he asked.
Rosenberg also pointed out it was not just Ukraine, but Russian citizens, cities and territories that were also feeling the brunt of the war from drone attacks, heavy losses along the frontline and incursions across the border by Ukrainian forces.
Putin was seen furiously scribbling in a notepad as Rosenberg delivered his line of questioning with a stormy look creased across his face before biting back hard. ‘Is it fair that for years our (Western) partners for years ignored our constant appeals not to expand NATO to the East? To lie to our face and violate all their obligations… to get into Ukraine and build military bases?’ he scowled.
He went on to accuse the U.S. of orchestrating and financing a coup in Ukraine in 2014 – a theme central to the Kremlin’s narrative that opposes the White House’s account that the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the subsequent invasion of Ukraine was down exclusively to Russian aggression.
As the conference drew to a close, Rosenberg asked a second question, referring to claims by Britain’s MI5 that Russian agents were ‘creating chaos’ on the streets of Britain. That appeared to be the final straw for Putin, who audibly laughed, thanked Rosenberg for the question and immediately dismissed it as ‘utter rubbish’.
The conflict in Ukraine came up repeatedly throughout the three-day summit in Kazan that was attended by leaders or representatives of 36 countries, highlighting the failure of U.S.-led efforts to isolate Russia with sanctions and political manoeuvring. The summit also saw the first visit to Russia from United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in more than two years and drew an angry reaction from Kyiv.
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