As of January 1st, Russia holds the chairmanship of BRICS, a bloc whose members have increased from five to ten with the entry of Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Iran.
Argentina was slated to become the sixth new member of the intergovernmental association, but on December 29th new Argentinian President Javier Milei officially notified the BRICS members (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) that his country would decline the group’s invitation to join issued after its August 2023 summit in Johannesburg. In his letter, Milei said that he did not consider his country’s participation in the BRICS group appropriate at this time.
Speaking on Monday about Russia’s chairmanship of the BRICS, President Vladimir Putin noted that Moscow plans to promote cooperation in three key areas: politics, economics, and culture.
“In general, Russia will continue to promote all aspects of the BRICS partnership in three key areas: politics and security, economy and finance, and cultural and humanitarian contacts,” he said in an address on the start of Russia’s BRICS chairmanship.
The Russian president’s priorities also include promoting cooperation in science, high technology, healthcare, environmental protection, culture, sports, youth exchanges, and civil society.
The Russian 2024 BRICS Chairmanship, under the motto Strengthening Multilateralism for Equitable Global Development and Security, will act precisely in this manner and focus on positive and constructive cooperation with all countries concerned, according to the document published on the official Kremlin website.
About the new BRICS format, the Russian president noted that his country would take all possible measures to facilitate the integration of the new members.
“We will spare no effort to ensure that, while preserving traditions and being guided by the experience gained by the association in years past, we facilitate the harmonious integration of new participants in all formats of its activities,” he stated.
Nearly 200 events are on the agenda for the Russian BRICS chairmanship. The BRICS Summit in Kazan (around 800 km east of Moscow) in October will be the culmination of Russia’s chairmanship.
The BRICS organization was founded in June 2006, within the framework of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, with the participation of Brazil, Russia, India, and China ministers of economy. In 2011, South Africa joined the bloc.
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