MOSCOW, June 4. /TASS/. Moscow welcomes Ankara’s wish to join BRICS, and this initiative will be discussed at the upcoming summit of the integration, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
"We all obviously welcome the increased interest towards BRICS from our neighbors, including such important partners as Turkey. Obviously, the issue of this interest will be on the agenda of the BRICS summit, which will be chaired by Russia and which we are actively preparing for," he said.
The organization can hardly fully satisfy the interest of all countries willing to join it, Peskov noted. "However, BRICS is interested in maintaining contacts with all interested states, with various formats of remaining in touch being devised now for doing that. This is a lengthy process. But we welcome such a lively interest," he stressed.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said earlier than Ankara would like to join BRICS, adding that the issue would be discussed at the group’s ministerial meeting in Nizhny Novgorod. Some European countries are against Turkey joining the EU, so the country’s authorities are considering BRICS as an alternative integration platform, he noted.
Nizhny Novgorod will host a meeting of BRICS foreign ministers on June 10-11.