The Russian leader wants to cast himself as a global statesman, even as the U.S. and its Western allies try to isolate him.
Isolated by the West for his war in Ukraine, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia scored a diplomatic victory on Tuesday when he welcomed the leaders of China, India and South Africa at the opening of a summit of emerging market countries bidding to rebalance a world order now dominated by the United States.
Mr. Putin, who cannot travel freely abroad because of a warrant for his arrest issued by the International Criminal Court, was able to cast himself as a global statesman by rolling out the red carpet for the likes of China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India.
Mr. Xi’s plane was escorted by a Russian fighter jet before he landed in Kazan to red-carpet treatment, which included an honor guard and women in traditional costumes bearing heaping plates of Tatar snacks known as chak-chak.
Mr. Putin received the visiting leaders at the historic Kazan Kremlin, an ornate centuries-old castle.
Meetings with foreign leaders have become more rare for Mr. Putin, and he sought to use the gathering to show that he has powerful allies and influence in the world.
“Russia-China cooperation in international affairs is one of the main stabilizing factors in the world,” he told Mr. Xi, whom he addressed as a “dear friend,” at the beginning of a bilateral meeting. “We will continue to collaborate to establish a just world order.”
