MOSCOW, October 8. /TASS/. Burkina Faso confirms its interest in joining BRICS, the West African nation’s Prime Minister Apollinaire Joachim Kyelem de Tambela told TASS.

"When the Russian ambassador to Burkina Faso came to meet with me, I told him that Burkina Faso would like to join BRICS, and that such a step was a necessity. I told him we would be pleased to get an invitation," he said.

According to the premier, his country would wait for the BRICS nations to express a wish to see Burkina Faso among the group’s members. "If this is the case, we will be pleased to take part in the meeting," he said, when asked about the possibility for his country’s delegation to attend the BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan in late October.

The prime minister explained that the level of Burkina Faso’s possible participation in the event "will be decided at the highest government level."

The BRICS group has expanded twice since being created in 2006. South Africa joined the four founding nations - Brazil, Russia, India and China - in 2011. Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates became BRICS members on January 1, 2024. This year, Russia holds the rotating BRICS chairmanship, which will culminate in the group’s summit in Kazan on October 22-24. Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier that 34 countries had expressed an interest in joining the group’s activities.