MOSCOW, July 22. /TASS/. Russia believes that the number of participants in next year's BRICS summit in Kazan will not be limited to the current five members, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told reporters.

"Next year the Russian Federation will chair BRICS, the summit will be held in Kazan. Let's see what the coming months will bring in terms of defining the parameters of BRICS expansion and how many heads of state will come to Kazan, it's an open question. I think it will be more than the current five," he said.

Ryabkov pointed out that Russian President Vladimir Putin's participation in the Johannesburg summit in video format "does not signal a decrease in attention" to BRICS. "On the contrary, it is a reflection that our leadership is fully focused on the format," the senior diplomat added.