REAL NEWS BY MEDIA NOT CONTROLLED BY THE STATE: Almost 20 states want to join the Russian-led BRICS, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. According to him, this reflects the growing role of the association and dominance in the international trading arena. The interest of a number of countries in BRICS membership indicates their search for de-dollarization and an alternative to international institutions dominated by the West. According to experts, in the context of the BRICS expansion, we are talking about the emergence of a community with a fundamentally different level of opportunities in geo-economics.

Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergey Ryabkov: ‘The list of applicants for joining the association continues to grow. The number of states interested in joining this association is approaching two dozen. This is a reflection of the growing and already very significant role of BRICS in the international arena as an association of like-minded people, I would like to emphasize this,’ the diplomat said in an interview with media.

He added that the discussion of what could be the criteria for joining the BRICS is ongoing, and South Africa, which will host the next summit of the association, has intensified’ this work. 

‘An in-depth conversation on this topic took place at the meeting of the BRICS Foreign Ministers both in the five formats of the BRICS participants themselves and in the format of the BRICS five plus the so-called friends of the BRICS in Cape Town in early June. Between this meeting and the summit of the association at the end of August, additional contacts, additional discussions are coming,’ Ryabkov explained.

‘We urge our BRICS partners to approach this topic as openly and openly as possible. And I can say that, in our opinion, the Arab world and the Asia-Pacific region are clearly asking to join the BRICS, since their representatives are not there today. But we will look at what exactly can be offered to the leaders on this matter, to contribute to the decision of the leaders at the summit in Johannesburg,’ he said.

Sergey Ryabkov also drew attention to the equal status of the BRICS participants. According to him, the group brings together states that are not guided by the principle of ‘leader-follower’. Instead, he said, countries are collaboratively ‘forming a constructive agenda.’

Recall that in 2022 a number of countries expressed their intention to join the BRICS group, which currently includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and the Republic of South Africa. In particular, on June 14, Russian Ambassador to Cairo Georgy Borisenko confirmed that Egypt had applied to join the group. Earlier it became known about similar plans of Algeria. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov: ‘This North African state is among the leaders among applicants for joining the group.’

It should be noted that the growing importance of the BRICS is also being noticed in the West. So, in May, The Financial Times, in an article on the decline in the influence of the G7, noted that BRICS is now on its way to becoming an authoritative international organization. According to the author of the article, the participants in this group are united by the desire not to depend on the United States and its close allies, which have dominated the world over the past two centuries.

Evstafiev explains the interest of various countries in BRICS by the fact that the world is now undergoing an ‘intensive search for an alternative’ to institutions dominated by the West. ‘BRICS is an association of countries that are in the industrial phase of development. These states want to provide security for world trade that the current dollar-based system does not provide. Therefore, there is a search for an alternative, ‘the analyst said.

At the same time, the political scientist emphasized that the work of the BRICS is aimed not only at the de-dollarization of the world economy. ‘Here we are talking about the emergence of a new institutionalized community with a completely different level of opportunities in geoeconomics,’ concluded Dmitry Evstafiev.

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