Russia says it will support Belarus if Minsk makes a decision to pursue full membership in BRICS, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large and sous-sherpa to BRICS Pavel Knyazev told RIA Novosti.

Belarus said that it received the partnership status in BRICS in 2024.

Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov has told RIA Novosti that Minsk would like to become a full member of the organisation.

“We indeed appreciate that the countries that are close to us, such as Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.

“They are among those nine states that have confirmed their approval and positive attitude to the invitation to the new category of partner states of BRICS.

“We contribute to strengthening their cooperation with BRICS. And further prospects will depend on them,’’ Mr Knyazev said.

He said that for now, it is impossible to talk about the exact time of Belarus joining BRICS as a full-fledged member.

“We appreciate the interest and are ready to contribute to strengthening cooperation between Belarus and BRICS. If our Belarusian friends start working on that, we are ready to help them. How much time it will take, we will see,’’ Mr sous-sherpa said.

He commented on the prospects of Belarus becoming a member state of BRICS.

Mr Knyazev highlighted that BRICS did not have an automatic mechanism of status change from partnership to full membership; these were the two different processes, as the organisation’s priority was not gaining new members.

It increased consensus and mutual understanding between member states and partners. 

(RIA/NAN)