KAZAN, Russia — Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Thursday against "illusory" attempts to defeat Russia on the battlefield ahead of his first meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in more than two years for talks set to focus on the conflict in Ukraine.
Putin was speaking in the central Russian city of Kazan on the final day of the Brics summit, a forum that Moscow hopes would help forge a united front of emerging economies against the West.