Argentina was slated to become the sixth new member of the intergovernmental association, but on December 29 new Argentinian President Javier Milei officially notified the BRICS members that his country will decline the group’s invitation to join issued after its August 2023 summit in Johannesburg. In his letter, Milei said that he did not consider his country’s participation in the BRICS group to be appropriate at this time, the Russian news agency recalled.
As Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated, during its year-long chairmanship Moscow will do everything possible to ensure that the five new BRICS members can "harmoniously integrate into the operating mode of the organization."
While preparing to take over from Pretoria as BRICS chair, Moscow has repeatedly stated that it will continue the course toward expanding the group‘s global influence. Among Moscow’s priorities will be the creation of a common trade settlement mechanism within the BRICS economies.
"BRICS is attracting an ever increasing number of supporters and like-minded countries that share its underlying principles, namely, sovereign equality, respect for the chosen path of development, mutual consideration of interests, openness, consensus, the aspiration to form a multipolar international order and a fair global financial and trade system, and pursuit of collective solutions to top challenges of our time,"
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his address on Monday. "The Russian 2024 BRICS Chairmanship under the motto Strengthening Multilateralism for Equitable Global Development and Security will act precisely in this manner and focus on positive and constructive cooperation with all countries concerned. We will spare no effort to ensure that, while preserving traditions and being guided by the experience gained by the association in years past, we facilitate the harmonious integration of new participants in all formats of its activities," he added.
Moscow has already announced about 200 separate BRICS-related events, about 10 of which will be held at the ministerial level. Among the Russian cities that will host important BRICS events are Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan. In the summer, Nizhny Novgorod will host a meeting of the BRICS foreign ministers, while Kazan will host the annual BRICS summit in October.
BRICS was formed in 2006 and initially included Brazil, Russia, India and China. South Africa joined the intergovernmental organization in 2011.
