MINSK, October 24. /TASS/. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that his country has become a BRICS partner state.

"We have become partners, this is a mandatory step before joining this club," the Belarusian leader told Izvestia in an interview on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan.

According to Lukashenko, following the summit in Kazan, "12 or 13 states, including Belarus," have acquired the status of BRICS partners. At the same time, the very existence of an intermediate step before obtaining full membership in the association raised questions for the Belarusian leader, so he urged not to bureaucratize the processes.