New to join: Russia supports Thailand's entry into BRICS
BRICS may experience a new wave of expansion in the new year. Thailand has long claimed full membership in the association, and Moscow supports Bangkok's intention, Russian Ambassador to Thailand Yevgeny Tomikhin told Izvestia. The kingdom is seriously interested in joining the BRICS, primarily because it wants to increase its international prestige and gain the support of the great participating powers in the person of the Russian Federation and China, experts say. About how the BRICS expanded, see the Izvestia article.
Russia supports Thailand on its way to BRICS
Moscow supports Bangkok's candidacy to join the BRICS, Russian Ambassador to Thailand Yevgeny Tomikhin told Izvestia.
— From the moment of acquiring the status of a partner state (from January 1, 2025. — Izvestia) the Thai authorities have stated that they will strive for full membership. In particular, in December, Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Nikondet Phalangkun noted that Bangkok understands the importance of the kingdom joining the BRICS. This issue is resolved by consensus of the members of the association. Given that India will assume the BRICS presidency in 2026, New Delhi will make official comments on this topic. As for Russia, from the very beginning we considered Thailand as a strong candidate for joining the BRICS," he said.
The Russian Ambassador recalled that, in general, Bangkok's partnership with the association began back in 2017, when Thailand joined the BRICS+ mechanism. Indeed, Bangkok has repeatedly participated in various events within the framework of this structure.
In October 2024, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom, Marit Sangiamphong, arrived in Kazan for the XVI BRICS Summit. At the airport, as expected in the Russian Federation, he was greeted with bread and salt. Moreover, on the eve of his visit, the press secretary of the Thai Foreign Ministry reported that at the summit in Kazan, Bangkok hopes for approval of BRICS membership and plans to join it at the same time. The official representative of the kingdom's Foreign Ministry, Nikondet Phalangkun, emphasized the importance of this step for Thailand.
"We want to join BRICS not to join an alliance against anyone, but to enhance Thailand's international role and become part of an association of developing and developed countries that plays a crucial role in shaping the agenda and choosing the direction of further human development and is on the path to achieving inclusivity, equality and justice." in global development," he explained.
First of all, by joining BRICS, Bangkok is, in fact, investing in its status, said Alexander Korolev, Candidate of Political Sciences, Deputy Director of the Central Research Institute of Higher School of Economics.
— On the one hand, Thailand is considered an official military and political ally of the United States, but, like many middle powers, it seeks to pursue a policy of balancing between different centers of power. In Thailand's perception, it is a center of power led by Russia and China. Therefore, for him, this includes strengthening relations with the Russian Federation and China as other great powers besides the United States," the expert told Izvestia.
From an economic point of view, Bangkok is interested in expanding sales markets for the export of its national products, as well as to receive investments from the New Development Bank for the socio-economic development of the country, Korolev believes.
How BRICS expanded
BRICS was founded in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India and China. Since that moment, the association has gone through two waves of expansion. In 2011, the Republic of South Africa joined the original membership. In August 2023, several new members were invited to the BRICS, including Argentina, but at the end of December it refused to join. Four countries — Egypt, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia — began their work in the group on January 1, 2024. In January 2025, Indonesia joined them.
— The expanded BRICS membership will contribute to building a new, more equal and fair multipolar world order that will better reflect the reality of things on the international stage and allow the developing world to assert itself more strongly and clearly. And it will also strengthen the role of emerging market and developing countries in the global decision—making process," said Sergey Ryabkov, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, Russian sherpa in BRICS, after the second wave of expansion.
Interestingly, Saudi Arabia has also received an invitation to join the organization in 2023, but so far it has not completed internal procedures. Riyadh has participated in a number of BRICS events, but the state needs additional time to make a decision on its membership, and Russia is ready to wait for it calmly and with respect, Pavel Knyazev, Ambassador-at-large of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Deputy of the Russian Federation in BRICS, said in February 2025.
Given the last two expansions, it is unlikely to expect a new wave in the near future, says Alexander Korolev. According to the expert, the founding states deliberately came up with the special status of a BRICS partner in order to limit unification from countries that want to join.
"We probably won't see any new countries in the BRICS in the near future, so Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam, the countries of Southeast Asia that have the status of a state partner, will remain in this status for now," the expert believes.
However, in early December, the kingdom asked India, which will become the BRICS chairman in 2026, to join the association. New Delhi, in turn, supported Thailand, stipulating that there should be a consensus among the founding countries on this issue. "I think some countries are not against Thailand's membership, but they believe that there should be a moratorium on new members, as BRICS is expanding very rapidly," Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Nikondet Phalangkun explained.
Nevertheless, according to him, Bangkok expects to become a BRICS member in 2026.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
