MOSCOW, August 25. /TASS/. Members of the BRICS association always try to resolve issues on a consensus basis, with each country’s voice carrying the same weight, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Friday.
"The right to veto and consensus are two two sides of the same coin: the approach can be called differently in different formats. Today, before the invited countries are admitted, each BRICS member has the right to veto. But this is not the issue, the matter is that the BRICS members always want to find a consensus, to reach a common solution, to formulate a generally acceptable approach that would not impair the quality of cooperation, just because BRICS is an attractive, needed platform," he said when asked by TASS about the right to veto within BRICS. "No different categories, no special privileges."
"Sometimes, this consensus is more difficult to reach than one would want and this work takes more time. Sometimes, this is done quite dynamically and, naturally, it is good," he said.
According to the senior diplomat, there have been no situations when "all are against one or one has to veto anything." "I have been dealing with these things for quite a long time. If we fail to reach accord quickly, let us put it off, let us wait and see, let us return to this matter later, next year, under a different presidency. It helps too," he stressed. "I think that regardless of the number of BRICS members, this is the most productive approach."
The BRICS summit was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from August 22 to 24, 2023 and was chaired by South Africa. With the leaders of 54 African nations invited, this was the biggest meeting of the heads of state and government of the Global South in recent years. Participants in the summit agreed that Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates will join the association from January 1, 2024. A new list of possible members will be compiled by the next BRICS summit.