MOSCOW, September 20. /TASS/. A report on options for creating alternative payment platforms for settlements between BRICS member countries will be prepared for the summit of the association in Kazan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Sky News Arabia.

The Russian top diplomat recalled that at the BRICS summit in August 2023 in Johannesburg, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva put forward an initiative to create an alternative payment system for all members of the association and interested countries.

"The order (on developing alternative payment systems - TASS) was recorded for the summit in Kazan, which will be held by Russian President Vladimir Putin," Lavrov noted.

"We must receive a report from the finance ministers and central banks of the BRICS member countries on how to create alternative payment platforms," he said.

The Russian foreign minister also drew attention to the growth of trade in national currencies between Russia and other countries.

"With the People's Republic of China, we carry out more than 90% of our trade in national currencies, without using the dollar. In trade relations with India, this figure reaches 60%," he noted.

"We are beginning to switch to these forms of interaction with most countries. It is clear that the United States continues to print dollars and, at by means of these low-backed bills, continues its policy of economic pressure on other countries. But this era is already coming to an end," Lavrov concluded.

The BRICS association was created in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India and China, and South Africa joined in 2011. On January 1, 2024, Egypt, Iran, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia became full members of the group. This year, the Russian Federation is chairing the association. The BRICS summit, the association’s main event of 2024, will be held in Kazan in the second half of October.