MOSCOW, July 8. /TASS/. BRICS faces the need to effectively integrate new members; Russia is set to respond to NATO’s military build-up in Northern Europe; and the US may postpone the resumption of a global trade war. These stories have topped Tuesday’s newspaper headlines across Russia.
Strengthening a multilateral world order is one of the major challenges for the BRICS group, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, summarizing the group’s summit that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 6-7. In order to make consensus-based decisions, it is crucial to seamlessly integrate new members and partner states, Alexander Shchetinin, head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department of Latin America, told Izvestia.
For quite a while, BRICS consisted of five nations - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Egypt, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Ethiopia became the group’s full members on January 1, 2024, followed by Indonesia in January 2025. In addition, BRICS introduced the category of partner states last year, granting the status to Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
Now, the challenge for BRICS is to make sure that new members and partner states join the group in a smooth manner and become part of its activities, Shchetinin observed. "This is why the issue of steps related to the group’s expansion has to be based on some future decisions endorsed by all countries," the diplomat stated. "Undoubtedly, given the rising importance of Latin American nations’ role in global politics and economy, we would welcome their louder and more distinct voice within BRICS," he added.
