KAZAN, October 24. /TASS/. The 16th BRICS summit has successfully ended to have become one of the most significant events on the global political calendar, Russian President Vladimir Putin told a news conference.

"The 16th BRICS summit has just ended successfully. It became the culminating point of the Russian chairmanship and one of the most significant events on the world political calendar. I have repeatedly said that Russia approaches the BRICS chairmanship in a responsible manner," he stated.

The Russian leader stated that more than 200 events had been held in 13 Russian cities this year as part of Russia's chairmanship of the association. In particular, there were meetings of industrial government ministers, conferences, seminars, the BRICS Business Forum and sports games, which were held "with great success".

The BRICS association was established in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India and China, with South Africa joining in 2011. On January 1, 2024, Egypt, Iran, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia became full members. The summit in Kazan was the first to be attended by the newly-incorporated members of the association.