MOSCOW, October 21. /TASS/. Participants and guests of the 2024 BRICS Summit in Russia this week will discuss the ongoing developments in the Middle East as well as possible solutions to other present-day pressing issues, Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov said on Monday.
According to him, a session within the BRICS Plus/Outreach format meeting will kick off on October 24 at 10 a.m. Moscow time (7:00 a.m. GMT).
"The sessions’ main theme will be ‘BRICS and the Global South: Building a Better World Together,’ and it will cover issues of cooperation between the majority of the majority of countries in addressing the present-day pressing problems, including the improvement of the architecture of international relations, provision for the sustainable development as well as for the food and energy security provision," Ushakov told journalists.
He also said that a particular attention would be paid "to the recently escalated situation in the Middle East," adding that the scheduled session at the issue "would certainly be a time-consuming event."
"Therefore, this session will be divided into two parts: first, the meeting at the regular table, and then the second part of the meeting at the dinner table," according to Ushakov.
BRICS was founded in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India and China, with South Africa joining it in 2011. On January 1, 2024, Egypt, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia became the group’s full members.
On January 1, 2024, Russia took over the BRICS’ yearlong presidency. It features more than 200 various events. The BRICS summit in Kazan on October 22-24 will be the association’s main event during Russia’s presidency.
Middle East tensions
Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 240 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly.
Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.
According to the latest data from the Israeli side, as many as 101 are still held hostage by radicals in the Gaza Strip.