MOSCOW, July 5. /TASS/. It is crucial that BRICS not let its expansion slow it down in any way, a senior Russian diplomat said.

"It would be a huge challenge for any organization to grow two-fold in less than 15 years, wouldn’t it? We have ensured the two-fold growth of BRICS’ members while continuing to work. And the results are impressive, with the number of events being quite big," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said in an interview with The International Affairs magazine.

He stressed the importance of maintaining the same level of cooperation amid the association’s expansion. "Just imagine that after admitting five new members (the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran, and Ethiopia - TASS) from January 1, 2024, we immediately begin receiving these or those applicants for membership. Of course, we can do this but I don’t think it will help maintain the rate of practical cooperation and achieve results that would be visible to our societies, yielding returns people living in our countries would be able to see. This is easy to imagine but next to impossible to achieve," he said.

According to the senior diplomat, Russia’s BRICS presidency "is focused on forming a new category of partner nations." "We should offer the category of partnership to all those who want closer ties with BRICS," he went on. "Obviously, this is not a full-fledged membership and there can be various nuances and different visions, including within the BRICS association, of how partners should be invited for cooperation at various levels and on various matters."

These issues, in his words, "are being looked at these days."

At the same time, he noted that the leaders are free to make any decision they think expedient, including on the association’s further expansion. "But the work on a partner state category and a list of potential partner nations for expanded cooperation with BRICS are the priorities for Russia’s presidency," he added.