ZHELEZNOVODSK /Stavropol Region/, October 5. /TASS/. Syria has applied to join BRICS, said the country’s ambassador to Russia, Bashar Jaafari.

"We are very interested in joining BRICS. We have sent written requests to join the organization," he told TASS on the sidelines of the conference called North Caucasus: New Geostrategic Opportunities.

BRICS has gone through two waves of expansion since its founding in 2006. In 2011, South Africa joined the original members Brazil, Russia, India and China. In August 2023, six more countries - Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE - were invited to join. Argentina in late December declined to join but the other countries became full members on January 1, 2024. Russia holds the group’s rotating presidency this year and will host a BRICS summit in the city of Kazan from October 22-24.