The recent BRICS summit in Kazan summed up the results of the Russian presidency of the organisation in 2024. John Shipton, an Australian activist and the father of WikiLeaks creator Julian Assange, also took part in the event.

In July, Assange was released from a British prison after many years in prison and returned to Australia following a plea agreement with the US authorities. The activist’s father said in an interview with RIA Novosti that he does not know what awaits his son in the future, but he is sure that the United States has never done and will not do anything positive, drowning out the truth about itself with all its might. According to Shipton, today the centre of gravity in the world has shifted to the BRICS countries, while the European Union is on the verge of collapse, the United States is “eating itself”, and Kiev may give up from a sufficiently strong breeze. The agency interlocutor also stressed that he admires the culture of Russia, the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Rosatom state corporation. Ulyana Miroshkina was talking.

I would like to ask you how was your visit to Kazan for the BRICS summit? What do you think this event showed the world about Russia?

This is a big question. I really enjoyed my trip to Kazan. My little acquaintance with Tatarstan and Tatar culture was surprisingly good and pleasant. As for Russia and the BRICS, I think it was great to see the skill with which countries such as Russia, China and India, each of which has very different and ancient cultures, temporarily united these cultures into the BRICS, an international bloc of non-Western powers. In my opinion, the centre of gravity in the world has shifted to the demographic, economic and cultural centres of the world in it.

Do you think that the summit in Kazan was a confirmation of that?

I think that the summit could not have taken place without the events that I have described. You know, Kazan is like a carpet in its finished form. Fibre and threads have been woven together in the past. And what we saw in Kazan is a finished work. And of course, over time, the constituent elements and institutions of Kazan will still be completed. But we can all see, admire, and participate in building the foundation.

Thank you very much. One of the components of the culture that you have described is people. And I would like to ask you, do you think you and perhaps Julian have many supporters and like-minded people in Russia?

The President of Russia, as I have already said, was the first head of state to comment and offer support to Julian in connection with his situation back in 2012. But I can’t even measure the degree of affection for Julian in the Russian Federation and China, in the BRICS countries. It’s a mystery to me. It’s just immeasurable. I found that the residents of Kazan and Moscow were very hospitable and kind to me.

But maybe you have faced criticism about your trip to Russia?

Hospitality among traveling people is sacred. And it was offered to me in Tatarstan and in the Russian Federation. In all its fullness, in all its sacredness, because it is an element of people’s character. And as for criticism, why bother with it? I can’t do anything about unfriendly people.

And why would they waste their time? Why would they waste their precious life and their ability to think by criticising me? There’s a lot of work in the world, you know. If you want to formulate a criticism, look at the Middle East, West Asia. Look at how children, mothers and fathers are killed. That’s where the focus of criticism........

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