STRELNA, September 12. /TASS/. Russia has fulfilled more than 70% of the program of its BRICS chairmanship this year, President Vladimir Putin said.
"The program of the Russian chairmanship is very extensive and diverse. It includes over 200 events aimed at promoting partnership in all key areas: politics and security, economy and finance, cultural and humanitarian ties. Meanwhile, the chairmanship's plan has been fulfilled by more than 70%," he said at a meeting with senior BRICS representatives on security issues.
Putin pointed out that about 150 events, meetings and business forums have been held. The majority of expert and ministerial meetings have been held. Among them, the Russian president listed parliamentary and interparliamentary forums, meetings of ministers of education, sports, heads of prosecutor's offices, presidents of supreme courts and supreme audit bodies. "All of them were held in a businesslike, partnership manner," the Russian leader pointed out.
A meeting of the BRICS foreign ministers, as well as an extended session with the participation of the states of the Global South and East, were held. Another meeting of the BRICS foreign ministers is scheduled for late September in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. A regular meeting of BRICS energy ministers will be held during the Russian Energy Week in Moscow on September 26-28, the president said.
Putin emphasized that Russia, as the chair, has initiated new formats of interaction. Among them are the meeting of transport ministers, heads of geological services and the BRICS forum on nuclear medicine.
The BRICS group has now gone through two waves of expansion since its inception in 2006. First, in 2011, South Africa joined founding members Brazil, Russia, India and China. Then, in August 2023, six new members, including Argentina, were invited to join BRICS after the intergovernmental group’s summit in Johannesburg. However, in December 2023, the new Argentinian government of President Javier Milei announced that it had declined the invitation for the time being because it considered integration with BRICS impractical. The five new members - Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - began working as full-fledged BRICS member states since January 1.
Russia has assumed the rotating BRICS chairmanship on January 1, 2024. It will last until the end of the year and will include more than 250 events. The main event will be the BRICS Summit in Kazan in October 2024.