Russia will assume the rotating presidency of the BRICS on Jan. 1, 2024, and under President Putin’s leadership will inaugurate the phase of BRICS’s quantitative and qualitative expansion—first into the BRICS-10, and shortly perhaps into the BRICS-30. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told NTV channel on Dec. 24 that, for now, the BRICS will remain an association and not an organization with a secretariat. “BRICS is not an organization, but an association. I don’t think anyone has any interest in turning it into a real organization with a secretariat. This is not necessary, at least at this stage, for a relatively long time,” the minister.
Chris Devonshire-Ellis, the Chairman of Dezan Shira & Associates and a well-informed proponent of the BRICS, wrote on Dec. 19 that six new members were invited to join the BRICS at the Aug. 22-24, 2023 Johannesburg summit, but that Argentina, under the presidency of Javier Milei, will likely decline. That means the BRICS-10 will be launched this Jan. 1. “In gathering together the ‘developing’ or ‘emerging’ economies, the BRICS have taken a bet on the future. While some potential members may fall into future difficulties created by regional conflicts, most will not. Absorbing these new members will take time—but could be completed by 2030.”
