BRASILIA, April 17. /TASS/. A measured approach is needed when considering the possible expansion of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) platform to include new members, Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said in an interview with TASS ahead of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Brazil.

"From Brazil’s point of view, the issue of BRICS’ expansion requires a balanced approach with due respect to the criteria of possible admission of new members that were adopted by consensus-based and transparent decisions," he said. "We see BRICS as a creative diplomatic structure that has demonstrated extraordinary usefulness, including thanks to such an instrument as the New Development Bank (NDB), which is now headed by Brazil’s former President Dilma Rousseff."

According to the minister, Brazil notes "the gradual and balanced process of the expansion of the NDB, which admitted three new members (Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Bangladesh) in 2021.

Brazil, in his words, has a special role in BRICS "in terms of the consolidation of a new multipolar world order with a general understanding that all participants have a legitimate voice in discussions of serious global matters." He also noted the fact that the combined population of BRICS countries makes up nearly half the entire world. "And this means that the association bears special responsibility for the future of the planet," Vieira stressed.

Interest in the BRICS association, which has surpassed the Group of Seven in terms of a number of key economic indices this year, has grown considerably in the world. Thus, Algeria, Argentina, and Iran have already applied for membership. Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, and Tunisia have announced their interest in joining the group. Several African nations are in consultations on possible accession.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said earlier that one should not expect quick decisions on BRICS expansion. The BRICS members, in his words, must "reach an understanding on basic expansion parameters," and this process "is anything but simple."

Brazil, Russia, India, and China established the BRIC association in 2006. South Africa joined the group in 2011 to turn it into BRICS. The next BRICS summit will be held offline in Durban, South Africa in August.