HARARE, August 5. /TASS/. Ethiopia has been able to build closer economic ties with Russia thanks to its membership in BRICS, Russian Ambassador to Addis Ababa Yevgeny Terekhin said.

"I would like to stress that the two countries have reached a high point in their political cooperation and mutual understanding. <…> We see that the two countries not only have well-developed bilateral ties and maintain cooperation in various areas, they are also BRICS members," he said in an interview with the ENA Ethiopian news agency. "We are moving forward in the economic sphere. Maybe not as fast as we want, but progress is quite visible."

According to the Russian diplomat, Ethiopia’s accession to BRICS furnished the countries of the association, including Russia, with excellent opportunities for strengthening bilateral ties. He especially hailed the closer cooperation between the two countries amid Russia’s presidency of BRICS in 2024.

Terekhin also said that he hopes that the economic partnership between Russia and Ethiopia "will be more visible in the global arena, especially in the areas of energy, trade, food security, and other spheres" of mutual interest.

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.