Russian President Reveals Countries Wanting to Join BRICS, Emphasizes That Interest Cannot Be Ignored

Recently, during a meeting with senior security representatives of the BRICS group of leading emerging economies, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that up to 34 countries expressed their desire to join the group in some aspect.

BRICS currently has a population of about 3.6 billion people, equivalent to 45% of the world's population. (Source: Medium)

"We cannot ignore the growing interest of many countries in BRICS. To date, more than 30 countries - to be exact, 34 countries - have expressed interest in participating in the activities of our group in one form or another," the Russian head of state stressed.

As the current BRICS chair, Russia has been working on planning the group's joint activities this year with the utmost responsibility.

“Our presidency has a special mission to support in every possible way the process of rapid and natural integration of new member states into all BRICS mechanisms,” Putin said.

He revealed that the members have agreed to discuss granting partner status to countries willing to participate in the group's work and BRICS plans to consider potential candidates that could receive such status.

BRICS was founded in 2006, initially with four members: Brazil, Russia, India and China. South Africa joined BRICS in 2011.

The group underwent a major expansion this year when Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates became full members.

BRICS currently has a population of about 3.6 billion people, equivalent to 45% of the world's population.

The group accounts for 28% of global gross domestic product and about 40% of the world's oil production.

In June 2024, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced that BRICS had voted to temporarily suspend new member admissions and focus on integrating countries that have already joined in 2024.

There will be a new category of “partner countries” as a “stepping stone” to full membership, Lavrov added.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/tong-thong-nga-tiet-lo-ve-nhung-quoc-gia-muon-tham-gia-brics-nhan-manh-khong-the-bo-qua-su-quan-tam-nay-286322.html