MOSCOW, June 19. /TASS/. The queue of countries wishing to join BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) indicates the growing role of these associations, which is in Russia's interests, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.

"The long queue to join, first of all, BRICS, but also to the SCO, clearly indicates the growing role of these structures, which is fully in our interests. We will help like-minded people unleash their creative potential," the top Russian diplomat said at a meeting of the United Russia Party commission on international cooperation and support for compatriots abroad.

Lavrov pointed out that Russia intended to continue "developing interaction within new types of multilateral associations, such as the SCO and BRICS, whose attractiveness is particularly important for the majority states that, like Russia, are subject to discriminatory measures by the West." "We intend to make maximum use of the potential of the Union State of Russia and Belarus, the CSTO, the EAEU and the CIS," the Russian foreign minister added.