Putin Again Blames West for Ukraine War In Speech to BRICS Summit

News Snapshot:

Mr. Putin is the only leader of a BRICS nation not to attend the summit in Johannesburg in person this week because he is wanted for war crimes under a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court. South Africa, which is a party to the treaty that created the court and would have been obliged to arrest him if he had traveled there, had asked him to stay away. The summit has focused on whether to expand the club and how to be a counterweight to Western powers. The war in Ukraine, the prospect of a major BRICS expansion and...