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Cuba, Bolivia may become BRICS partner states in 2025, says senior Russian diplomat

Sergey Ryabkov emphasized that talks on providing partner status to the invited countries were still ongoing but none of them had rejected the invitation

MOSCOW, December 13. /TASS/. Cuba and Bolivia may join BRICS as partner states on January 1, 2025, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told the Izvestia daily.

"They are among the countries that have received invitations. We are confident that everything will work out in terms of their joining the group as partners," he pointed out.

Ryabkov emphasized that talks on providing partner status to the invited countries were still ongoing but none of them had rejected the invitation. "This is a big, serious prospect for all the countries that have been invited, so there are just a few days before the list is made public," he added.

Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov announced on October 23 that a list of 13 countries that could potentially become BRICS partner states had been agreed on. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin said on November 15 that Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia had become BRICS partners. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko told Izvestia earlier that Vietnam had also expressed a wish to join BRICS as a partner state.

Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates became members of the BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) on January 1, 2024. Saudi Arabia currently has the status of an invited country. Brazil will take over the BRICS chairmanship next year.

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Foreign policy BRICS

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