RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin today presided at the closing session of a summit of the Brics bloc, praising its role as a counterbalance to what he called the West’s “perverse methods.”

The three-day summit in the city of Kazan covered the deepening of financial co-operation, including the development of alternatives to Western-dominated payment systems, efforts to settle regional conflicts and the expansion of the Brics group of nations.

The alliance that initially included Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa when it was founded in 2009 has expanded to embrace Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.