At a meeting in St. Petersburg today, Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed a group of top BRICS security leaders who were attending the 14th meeting of BRICS High-Level Officials responsible for security Sept. 11-12. As reported on the Kremlin website, Putin explained that this meeting includes states that had just joined as full-fledged BRICS members on Jan. 1, 2024. In addition, he said, a meeting had also been held with colleagues from countries that haven’t yet joined, but “have shown a sincere interest in working more closely with our association.” That was done at Russia’s initiative, he reported.
The Russian President emphasized that the meeting of high-ranking security representatives “is a crucial step in preparing for the BRICS summit and BRICS Plus/Outreach” that Russia will host in Kazan, on Oct. 22-24, and asked those present to convey to their country’s leaders “that we look forward to their participation in the summit. We plan to discuss in depth the future expansion of the comprehensive partnership among BRICS member countries and to finalize a package of agreements covering various sectors and areas of cooperation,” he went on.
During the year that Russia has been serving as BRICS chair, Putin added, “Our chairmanship has been assigned a crucial task: to facilitate the swift and seamless integration of new member countries into all BRICS mechanisms.” There are, he said, more than 34 countries that have “expressed their desire to participate in the activities of our association in some capacity.” Russia has initiated active discussions with all BRICS participants regarding “the framework for a new category of partner states” set to be approved in Kazan, “and will also consider a number of potential candidates for this status.”
