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Russia supports BRICS role in uniting countries willing to live independently — diplomat

"The essence of BRICS doesn't lie in confrontation, but in promotion of a positive and unifying agenda," Anatoly Antonov said

NEW YORK, February 15. /TASS/. Russia supports and enhances the role of BRICS as a center of gravity for countries unwilling to obey anyone’s instructions, Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov told Newsweek.

In his words, Moscow's goal "is to enhance and bolster BRICS' role and weight as a center of gravity for countries seeking to pursue an independent foreign policy course" and "for those who do not want to live under someone else's dictate, and aspire to be on friendly terms with the rest of the world, trading and interacting on equal footing."

In his opinion, BRICS is to become a center of gravity "for those, to whom the fundamental principles of the group - sovereign equality, mutual and consensual consideration of interests, desire to shape a fair model of global markets, search for collective answers to the current challenges - are not an empty word."

The ambassador emphasized that the above-mentioned BRICS' priorities "in no way imply that member-states see the value of the format in opposing themselves to the collective West."

"The essence of BRICS doesn't lie in confrontation, but in promotion of a positive and unifying agenda," Antonov wrote. "Nobody exerts pressure on particular states to join the group. It is all driven by their own plans and intentions.".

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Foreign policy BRICS

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