MOSCOW, November 21. /TASS/. Moscow would like to understand what Buenos Aires thinks about joining BRICS, now that the presidential election in Argentine is over, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told TASS.
Diana Mondino, a foreign policy adviser for President-Elect Javier Milei, said in late October that Liberty Advances, the political coalition that nominated Milei, believes it makes no sense for Argentina to join BRICS, even though the country was granted membership following the group's summit in August.
"Let's wait for signals from Buenos Aires. Why should we talk about some kind of replacement? To begin with, we just need to understand the stance of the incoming Buenos Aires administration. So far, we have no clarity on this issue," Ryabkov said, when asked whether Argentina would be replaced as a future BRICS member if it refuses to join on January 1, 2024.
Argentina held a second round of presidential elections on November 19. Milei leads the Libertarian Party, which is part of the right-wing Liberty Advances coalition. He defeated Economy Minister Sergio Massa.
Milei has repeatedly stated that he does not plan to develop government-to-government relations with Brazil, China or Russia due to his disagreement with the nations’ policies, but said he will not prevent private companies from doing business with these countries. He regards Israel and the US as Argentina's primary allies.