MOSCOW, August 25. /TASS/. Contradictions that may emerge after the expansion of the BRICS association fade away amid the positive dynamics of the association’s work, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told a press conference on the results of the BRICS summit in South Africa on Friday.

"Differences and contradictions, some questions to each other existed, exist and will exist but they are secondary to the dynamics, the impetus and the drive that manifest themselves in full in the BRICS activity," the senior Russian diplomat said.

Potential contradictions inside BRICS can be settled, Ryabkov said.

"Contradictions can also be settled, resolved or at least discussed. And the forum itself, the work format offers a good opportunity to use it for bilateral contacts, for discussions between the leaders of states who have some questions to each other on how to make the movement in the positive and constructive direction more dynamic," the senior Russian diplomat stressed.

"It has to be understood that the positions of all the countries that have been invited to join the association are well-known to us and all the other BRICS members. There are no hidden rocks or reefs that the BRICS ship may encounter, harming itself. We will find the way to navigate properly," Ryabkov pointed out.

The 15th BRICS summit was held in Johannesburg in South Africa under South Africa’s chairmanship on August 22-24 and was a major meeting of the heads of state and governments of the global south in recent years. The leaders of 54 African states were invited to the summit. The participants in the summit agreed that Argentina, Egypt, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia would join BRICS from January 1, 2024.

A new list of the association’s potential members will be prepared by the next summit.