MOSCOW, July 9. /TASS/. Ties between cities and municipalities in BRICS nations are getting stronger and Russia is ready to share its expertise in this area, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

"As the BRICS chair, our country is making efforts to expand comprehensive strategic partnership within this association. Priority attention is focused on humanitarian cooperation and communication between people. One crucial thing here is cooperation between cities and municipalities. Such cooperation has been steadily developing recently," he said in a video address to the participants in a forum of BRICS sister cities and municipalities.

According to the top Russian diplomat, BRICS’ expansion has opened up new prospects for the exchange of expertise on key aspects of urban life, including urban planning, local self-government and legislation, social protection, security, etc.

He said that a number of events geared toward developing interregional cooperation within BRICS are scheduled for this year. "The forum of twin cities and municipalities is among them. The forum has proven to be an efficient platform for dialogue between regional and municipal authorities and has helped establish sister city relations between many of them," he said, adding that the forum will focus on the issue of raising living standards in cities, economic development of municipalities, modern urban architecture, digitalization, as well as various environmental aspects, education, culture, sport, and youth exchanges. "Russian participants have serious expertise in these areas and will be ready to share it," Lavrov added.

Russia took over the BRICS’ year-long presidency on January 1, 2024. Russia’s presidency features more than 250 various events, with a BRICS summit in Kazan in October 2024 being the central one.

Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov told TASS earlier that Russia is set to develop the entire spectrum of humanitarian ties with BRICS nations, including in the areas of culture, youth exchanges, sport, and tourism.