MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/. The popularity of the BRICS group is helping to open the eyes of those who see the West as the sole center of the world, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, who serves as Moscow’s BRICS sherpa, said.

"People-to-people ties and the humanitarian sphere - from film festivals to BRICS sporting games - are making the group increasingly recognizable across the world. This is a good thing because it is talking sense into people, including those who still believe that the world revolves around the West, namely the US. This is not the case," he pointed out in an interview for the premier issue of the TASS "BRICS Bulletin," which is being published as part of Russia’s chairmanship of BRICS.

Ryabkov noted that BRICS is making it possible to work on an expansive agenda of issues. "The establishment of the New Development Bank has created the opportunity to implement practical projects. As for politics, there are a number of fields that are important for us, from combating money laundering to counter-terrorism and efforts to ensure safe space activities," the diplomat emphasized.

The Russian deputy foreign minister stressed that the group made absolutely all decisions by consensus because such a guiding principle "fully guarantees that national interests will be ensured."

According to Russia’s BRICS sherpa, the interpretation that BRICS is allegedly united against the West’s global dominance are wrong and are oftentimes promoted by the West itself. "BRICS never works on an agenda that is focused on negating something. We seek to find those niches where we can maintain specific cooperation to develop an alternative to other platforms without hiding from each other and the rest of the international community," Ryabkov added.