President Vladimir Putin used a speech to a summit of BRICS leaders on Wednesday to defend Russia’s war in Ukraine and praise the grouping as a counterbalance to U.S. global dominance.

Speaking by video link to leaders of the group, he repeated the Kremlin narrative that his invasion, condemned by Ukraine and the West as an imperialist land grab, was a forced response by Russia to Kyiv’s and Washington’s hostile actions.

“Our actions in Ukraine are dictated by only one thing – to end the war that was unleashed by the West and its satellites against the people who live in the Donbas,” Putin said, referring to the eastern part of Ukraine where Russian proxies have been fighting the Ukrainian army since 2014.

“I want to note that it was the desire to maintain their hegemony in the world, the desire of some countries to maintain this hegemony that led to the severe crisis in Ukraine.”

Putin was speaking to a forum of countries that have refrained from condemning Russia’s actions in Ukraine. The BRICS – also including Brazil, India, China and South Africa – have taken on added importance for Moscow as it seeks to blunt Western sanctions by boosting trade with Asia, Africa and Latin America.