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Russia hails Algeria’s decision to apply for BRICS membership, says diplomat

On Monday, Algerian officials filed a formal application to join the BRICS club

MOSCOW, November 8. /TASS/. Moscow welcomes Algeria’s resolve to join the BRICS association (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), Russia’s Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told journalists on Tuesday.

"We enjoy good relations with Algeria and maintain a trust-based dialogue," he noted. "This issue is being considered within the framework of the collective work in BRICS."

"We welcome the aspriation of our friends, partners and like-minded parties to join the work within such formats as BRICS and the SCO [Shanghai Cooperation Organization] as well as other formats, where we actively work," he added.

On Monday, Algerian officials filed a formal application to join the BRICS club, the Al-Shorouk information portal reported, citing the special envoy of the country's Foreign Ministry for international partnership, Leyla Zerrougui.

According to the calculations of TASS made on the basis of IMF data for 2022, BRICS countries would account for two-thirds of the world economy, if new members, namely Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt and Algeria, joined the association.

Previously, Iran and Argentina also applied to enter the BRICS club. Egypt, Turkey and the UAE also voiced their intention to join the association.

On September 26, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov reported that BRICS members had begun work on the possible expansion of the association. However, earlier he pointed out that quick decisions on this matter should not be expected.

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Foreign policy BRICS Algeria

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