Russia fears Ukraine, West may try to hinder BRICS summit in Kazan

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - The Russian deputy foreign minister on Thursday warned the West and Ukraine against attempts to hinder the BRICS summit scheduled for Oct. 22-24 in the city of Kazan.

Speaking at a news conference in Moscow, Sergey Ryabkov said the summit will be "the largest event of international importance," noting that heads of more than 30 states from Asia, Africa, Middle East, Latin America confirmed their participation.

"I would warn Kyiv's Western sponsors against trying to influence the situation, including in the context of the summit in Kazan. That would be a mistake on a huge scale," he emphasized.

The diplomat added that apart from national politicians, heads of international and regional organizations will come to Kazan. Specifically, he added, president of the New Development Bank, Dilma Rousseff, will speak at the summit.

The official said Moscow also expects Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to take part in the BRCIS summit, saying the situation in Ukraine is among the issues the Russian side would like to discuss with him.

The situation in Ukraine will be also brought to the attention of other summit participants, he said, adding: "All relevant issues on the international agenda are being discussed in BRICS. Of course, the situation in Ukraine is one of them. We are not hiding anything. On the contrary, we use this platform to show what are the root causes of the conflict."

Speaking about the BRICS expansion, the diplomat named non-participation in sanctions against the current association's members as one of the key conditions for accession.

"It is necessary to pursue a sovereign course, have a significant role in international and regional affairs, build good relations with the BRICS countries, refrain from joining illegitimate sanctions against the members of the association," he asserted.

Ryabkov stressed that adding new members should serve the goal of further strengthening BRICS potential and international authority.

The diplomat also confirmed that work on creating independent financial platforms within BRICS continues, but said "it is too early to speak about the establishment of a BRICS digital currency."

"We should not have illusions and artificially high expectations. The issue of creating independent payment mechanisms is extremely difficult, it requires a well-thought-out approach, which is exactly how we do it. Most importantly, all BRICS countries are focused on achieving practical results and are ready to develop cooperation in this area," he stressed.

BRICS, founded in 2009, is named after Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The bloc last year invited Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, Argentina, and the UAE to become members.