HAVANA, October 23. /TASS/. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla said he had arrived in Kazan leading a delegation at the BRICS Summit.

"We have arrived in Kazan to take part in the 16th BRICS 2024 Summit," Cuba’s top diplomat wrote on his page on X. According to him, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel could not come as he is personally spearheading efforts to restore the country’s power grid and repair the damage done by Hurricane Oscar.

On October 18, the island nation’s power collapsed, leaving the country without electricity for almost four days. And on October 20, Hurricane Oscar arrived to eastern Cuba, causing severe damage to the province of Guantanamo and leaving six dead. In the circumstances, the Cuban leader had to stay in the country and he dispatched the foreign minister for the BRICS Summit.

Prior to the summit in Kazan, Cuba said it had submitted an official request to join BRICS as a partner country in a message to Russia, which holds the rotating chairmanship in the grouping this year.

The 16th BRICS summit, which is the key event of Russia’s chairmanship in the association, is being held in Kazan on October 22-24. The BRICS group was founded in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India, and China, with South Africa joining it in 2011. On January 1, 2024, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates became its full-fledged members. The Kazan summit will be the first to be attended by the new members of the association. Representatives of over 30 countries are expected to take part. Among other global leaders, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa have already arrived in Kazan.