Lavrov Expects BRICS Ministers' Statement On Expansion To Contribute To Leaders' Summit

CAPE TOWN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd June, 2023) Russia expects that the BRICS foreign ministers' joint statement on the group's expansion released after their meeting in South Africa's legislative capital of Cape Town will contribute to the BRICS leaders' summit in August, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, South Africa, which chairs the BRICS group of emerging economies in 2023, hosted a meeting of the five member states' foreign ministers in Cape Town. The top diplomats discussed topical issues on the international agenda and cooperation on leading multilateral platforms, as well as exchanged opinions on perspectives for the group's expansion.

"Here, in Cape Town, it is very important to compare our approaches on all these issues and also on the intra-BRICS agenda, first of all, with regard to the approach to the expansion of our association.

We expect that the prepared joint statement on the results of the meeting, which was agreed by the Sherpas (envoys), will be a good contribution to the preparation of the declaration of the leaders of the Five in (South Africa's city of) Johannesburg in August," Lavrov told a joint press conference after the meeting of the BRICS foreign ministers.

BRICS unites the world's largest developing economies � Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. A number of other countries intend to join the economic bloc, including Argentina, Iran, Indonesia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. South Africa, which assumed the rotating BRICS presidency in January, will host the 15th BRICS summit in August.