BRICS Summit in Kazan will mark achievement of new heights in interaction: Russian FM Lavrov

"I think that the summit in Kazan this October will mark the achievement of new heights in the interaction between the BRICS countries," the Russian Foreign Minister said.

He further spoke about what to expect from Russia's chairmanship of the group.

Responding to how the enlargement of the association affected the concept of the Russian chairmanship this year, he said, "We entered 2024 with no historical experience of expanding unification. It wasn't clear how the lapping process would go or what would come of it. But today, with a third of the chairmanship behind us, the engagement has gained full momentum and we are moving at an increasing pace towards success."

On January 1, 2024, Russia took over the chairmanship of BRICS, an intergovernmental organization that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, plus four new members: Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates.

Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates joined BRICS as new full members, which is a strong indication of the growing authority of the association and its role in international affairs.

During the BRICS Chairmanship, the Russian side will continue its work in all three key areas, including, politics and security, economy and finance, and humanitarian cooperation.

"It is worth considering that there has been no example of an entity doubling its membership so far," Lavrov added.

He further underscored that all the newcomers are showing great enthusiasm and are ready to work substantively and professionally on the agenda that the Russian Chairmanship has developed in consultation with all participants.

"The second thing, of course, for some of the recruits, was the volume and scope of the work that we are doing in BRICS, which was a bit of a surprise. It is not even so much the number of events, but rather the multi-level mechanism of interaction, formats in which new ideas and certain traditions are worked out, initiatives are introduced into the fabric of BRICS work, and they are implemented," he added. (ANI)