Representing 41.1% of the world’s population and 37.3% of its GDP, the bloc aims to counterbalance U.S.-led Western alliances.

The U.S. slapped heavy sanctions on Russia after its Feb. 2022 invasion of Ukraine, including major blocks on the transactions of Russian financial institutions, banning U.S. imports of Russian energy products, and personal sanctions on Russian oligarchs in Putin's inner circle.

Nearly three years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine saw Moscow condemned by countries globally, leader Vladimir Putin is staging a summit with more than a dozen world leaders – in a pointed signal from the autocrat that far from being alone,