Ryabkov names two new BRICS partner countries

Cuba and Bolivia will join BRICS from January 1, 2025, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Izvestia.

"They (Bolivia and Cuba. - Ed.) are part of the group that received an invitation. We are confident that everything will work out in terms of their inclusion as partners," Ryabkov said.

The deputy foreign minister emphasized that the process of coordination with the states invited to BRICS has not been completed yet, but this issue will be resolved by the end of Russia's presidency in the association. According to him, Russia has not received any refusals to join BRICS from the invited states.

"We have not finalized the process of coordinating with the invited [states] in accordance with the decision of the Kazan summit to join them, but we expect that everything will be clarified by the end of the current presidency and there are naturally no refusals and there cannot be any. For all invited countries this is a big, serious prospect, so there are only a few days left, after that the relevant list will be made public," Ryabkov said.

Read more in Izvestia's exclusive piece:

Southern Collective: Bolivia and Cuba to become BRICS partners from January 1