MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/. Opponents of the BRICS intergovernmental group are seeking to find vulnerabilities and sow discord among group member states, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, who serves as Moscow’s Sherpa for BRICS events, said in an interview for the premier issue of the TASS "BRICS Bulletin."
"As BRICS matures and expands, <…> our adversaries have been taking a closer look at what is happening. Judging from the amount and genre of recent publications, we can see that they are looking for vulnerabilities as they find opportunities to sow seeds of both doubt and discord. And that will continue," the senior Russian diplomat said, as he cautioned against "underestimating" Western opposition in this area.
However, Ryabkov said, members of the grouping "have a well-developed diplomatic service and huge experience" and they understand quite well who they are dealing with in the international arena so as to "safeguard BRICS from harmful external influences, using their immunity."
`Not a venue for wrangling’
In the interview, the Russian deputy foreign minister also described the mechanism for resolving differences in bilateral relations between individual members of the group. "Since its inception, the group has formulated and instilled an understanding that we put bilateral tensions, issues, differences and disputes of all kind behind brackets. We never use this venue for wrangling," he explained.
Commenting on the five new members that joined on January 1, Ryabkov said they, too, encounter difficulties in their relationships. "They, too, are aware that all this should be left outside of BRICS," he added.
The BRICS group, which initially included Brazil, Russia, India and China, has expanded twice since it was established in 2006. South Africa joined the association in 2011, and on January 1, 2024, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates formally joined BRICS as new members. Argentina declined the group’s invitation to join in late December.