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Malaysian PM says he plans to visit Russia in several weeks

Vladivostok will host the Eastern Economic Forum on September 3 through 6

TOKYO, August 2. /TASS/. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has said that he plans to visit Russia’s Far Eastern city of Vladivostok in several weeks to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"A few weeks from now, I will go to Vladivostok in Russia to accept President Putin’s invitation to discuss economic cooperation, positioning us as a country that defends our independent position with no feeling of hostility with anyone," the BERNAMA news agency quoted him as saying.

Vladivostok will host the Eastern Economic Forum on September 3 through 6. The Russian president traditionally takes part in such forums.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on July 28 that his country had sent an application for joining BRICS to Russia, as a current chairman of the association. Before that, he met with visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The meeting, in his words, centered round Malaysia’s bid for BRICS membership, which would have a considerable potential for both sides. Lavrov, in turn, promised that as the BRICS president Russia will help Malaysia promote its interest to the partnership with the association.

Established in 2006, the BRIC group was made up of Brazil, Russia, India and China. In 2011, South Africa joined the group, adding the "S" to the acronym. Now it has ten members after six new countries, including Argentina, were invited to join the association in August 2023, but Argentina refused from joining BRICS in late December, while the other five nations, namely Egypt, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Ethiopia, became full-fledged members of BRICS from January 1, 2024.

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.