KAZAN, October 22. /TASS/. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has arrived in Kazan to take part in the BRICS Summit, the Tatarstan president’s office said in a statement.

"Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has arrived in Kazan to participate in the BRICS Summit. He was met at the international airport by [head of Tatarstan] Rustam Minnikhanov," the statement reads.

According to it, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia officially joined BRICS on January 1, 2024. The decision on the country’s accession to the grouping was made at the 15th summit in Johannesburg in August 2023.

The 16th BRICS summit, which is the key event of Russia’s chairmanship in the association, will be held in Kazan on October 22-24. The BRICS group was founded in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India and China, with South Africa joining in 2011. On January 1, this year, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt became its full-fledged members. The Kazan summit will be the first to be attended by new members of the association. Representatives of over 30 countries are expected to attend. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan are among the foreign leaders who will come to Kazan.