Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday pledged to expand the influence of the BRICS, which integrates Russia with Brazil, China, India and South Africa, after the partnership announced its expansion to six countries.
Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia and Iran will be part of the emerging economies bloc from January 1, 2014, BRICS leaders meeting in the South African city of Johannesburg decided.
“We will continue the cause we have started with you to expand the influence of the BRICS in the world”Putin said during a video conference at the end of the summit, quoted by the Spanish agency EFE.
Putin was the only leader of the five BRICS not to travel to Johannesburg because he was the target of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, which invaded Moscow in 2022.
The Russian leader was represented at the summit by his foreign minister, Serguei Lavrov.
Putin’s intervention came the day after the plane crash that killed the head of the Wagner group and his former ally, Yevgeny Prigozhin, about which the Russian government has not officially commented.
Lavrov, who played a discreet role in Johannesburg, avoided making statements to journalists today and dodged possible questions about Prigozhin’s death, according to Spain’s Europa Press agency.
Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency said Prigozhin’s name was on the passenger list of the private jet that crashed for unknown reasons on a flight between Moscow and St Petersburg on Wednesday.
All ten people on board, including Dmitry Utkin, another founder of the Wagner mercenary group, were killed in the crash.
Putin congratulated the new BRICS members and praised the role of his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, whose country currently chairs the bloc.
“I must point out that this work was not easy in the end and that President Ramaphosa has shown an astonishing diplomatic ability to agree on all positions, including those related to the expansion of the BRICS,” he said, quoted by the Russian Agency BAG.
He also said that one of the key issues for the bloc is the introduction of a single means of payment for transactions between BRICS members.
“It’s a complex issue, but one way or another we’re going to solve these problems,” he said.
Source: DN
