The President of Bosnia's Republika Srpska (RS) entity, Milorad Dodik, once again praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, this time during their meeting in Kazan, Tatarstan where he was invited to attend the BRICS summit.

Dodik and Putin met late on Thursday, confirming they would boost their cooperation despite pressure from the West.

According to RTRS television, Putin told Dodik he was aware of what challenges he was facing, but was confident that they would not stop him from protecting the national interests.

Dodik thanked Putin for inviting him to the summit, saying that Republika Srpska (RS), the Serb entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina, would like to join this project, but was constrained by the Bosnia and Herzegovina Constitution.

He said he was glad to see the progress Russia was making on the economic front and the failure of the sanctions imposed by the West following Russia's military invasion of Ukraine.

This shows that the sanctions are not producing the effects the Westerners want, Dodik said and complained about the sanctions imposed on him and his associates.

He confirmed that RS would not allow Bosnia and Herzegovina to introduce visas for Russian nationals and would continue to block any decisions to impose sanctions on Russia, although these are the requirements for the EU integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Dodik dismissed the claims that pro-Russian groups from Moldova were trained in RS to destabilise that country as a new form of pressure on RS and him personally, while Putin denied that Russia had anything to do with unrest in Western countries.

That's absolute nonsense. We don't even have the tools to organise unrest or marches in Western capitals, Putin said, adding that his country is not fighting against anyone but is only protecting its own interests.