Russia says BRICS expansion is a shock to the West

According to TASS, at the opening ceremony of the 7th BRICS Media Summit, the official spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said that the expansion of BRICS was a "shock" to the West.

“The expansion of BRICS is a real shock for the West, a cold shower and a strong confirmation that there will be no return to a unipolar world,” said spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

According to Ms. Zakharova, the BRICS group has become a model for interaction between countries, it is “a lifeline, a real panacea for everything that is happening in international relations today”.

The upcoming BRICS summit, which will be held on October 22-24 in the Russian city of Kazan, will become a prominent event in the world, an official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Earlier, on September 12, speaking at a meeting of BRICS security representatives in Saint Petersburg, Russian President Vladimir Putin said: “We cannot ignore the growing interest in BRICS from many countries. As of today (September 12), more than 30 countries - to be exact, 34 countries - have declared their desire to participate in the activities of our group."

According to the Russian leader, BRICS members have agreed to discuss granting partner status to countries ready to participate in the group's work and are likely to approve some bidders at the upcoming summit in Kazan.

Türkiye has formally applied to join the group, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said, adding that the country's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accepted the Kremlin's invitation to attend the upcoming BRICS summit in Kazan.

The BRICS Media Summit took place from September 13 to 17 in Moscow, with the participation of leading managers and experts from more than 60 media agencies from 45 countries.

The first media summit was held as a new format of the BRICS Media Forum - a non-governmental, non-profit platform for dialogue between leading media outlets of the association's member states. The media forum was established in 2015 at the initiative of the Xinhua News Agency (China).