Putin says Russia seeks greater cooperation with Brics nations

Russia sees stronger cooperation with its Brics counterparts as a priority, President Vladimir Putin said.

The five members of the group, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, must cooperate on fighting against terrorism and extremism, he said at the annual Brics summit in Johannesburg Thursday.

Putin’s comments come against the backdrop of the trade war between the US and China after President Donald Trump imposed billions of dollars of tariffs on goods from the Asian nation to retaliate for what he says are unfair practices that have resulted in a huge trade imbalance.

Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier called on the Brics nations to reject protectionism and said there are no winners in a trade war. The combined gross domestic product of the five countries is more than 90% the size of US output.

Read: China’s Xi urges global institutions to fight trade protectionism 

Russia supports the creation of regional branches for the Brics New Development Bank, Putin said.