The number of countries engaging with the BRICS group has been growing, with some 30 nations showing interest in cooperating with it in some form, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said, stressing that the group is not an “anti-Western” organization.
The president made the remarks on Friday during a meeting with leading reporters from BRICS nations. Collectively, the group already incorporates some 45% of the world population, while its trade turnover and share in the global economy has been growing steadily, Putin noted.
“Our group is expanding. The number of friends and like-minded people within the BRICS association has increased, and interest in the association’s activities is very high,” the Russian president said.
“To date, some 30 countries have expressed their desire to cooperate with BRICS to one degree or another, to join the activities of the organization in one way or another,” Putin added.
The group should not be perceived as a bloc of any kind, Putin stressed, explaining that the nature of BRICS makes it globally beneficial, and not just for its own participants.
“We are not building some bloc directed against someone’s interests. This is not such an organization. And in this sense, it has a universal character and, in my opinion, will have a beneficial effect on world affairs as a whole, including the world economy,” Putin said.
The Russian president also rejected assertions that BRICS is somehow geared against the collective West.
BRICS is not an anti-Western association. It’s simply non-Western.
The prospects of further expansion of BRICS must be carefully assessed by its standing members and a solid consensus on the matter must be reached, Putin said. While potentially growing in numbers, the group must remain multilateral and keep its current efficiency, he explained.
“By increasing the number of the organization’s members, we should not reduce the effectiveness of the whole structure to a minimum,” Putin cautioned.
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