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Process of coordinating positions on possible expansion kicks off in BRICS — Lavrov

"As for concrete candidates, all of them are strong: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Egypt," the top diplomat emphasized

MOSCOW, June 16. /TASS/. Deliberations on BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) expansion have kicked off, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with RT released on its Telegram channel on Friday.

"As for concrete candidates, all of them are strong: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Egypt. All of them are leaders in the Arab and Islamic world. And it would enrich BRICS, no doubt. We would be ready to find a solution quite swiftly. But there is a rule of consensus within BRICS. And now, bearing in mind the applications you have mentioned and which are coming from other continents, the process of coordinating positions on possible expansion has kicked off within BRICS," he said.

According to Lavrov, "expert opinions on how to proceed on this issue will be reported to the leaders" at the upcoming summit in South Africa. "The issue is sensitive because the reputation of a state is at stake here," he said. "If a state files an application and receives no response, it would not be taken very positively. We understand this perfectly well and, as I have already said, we want BRICS to expand."

The BRICS summit will be held in Johannesburg from August 22 through 24.

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Foreign policy Sergey Lavrov BRICS

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