Russia says France's participation in BRICS summit would be 'unsuitable'

MOSCOW (AA) – French President Emmanuel Macron taking part in next month’s BRICS country summit in Johannesburg would be "unsuitable," said Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday.

The French president’s participation would not contribute to the implementation of the work of BRICS— a bloc of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and host country South Africa – Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Anadolu.

"Sending invitations is a prerogative of the chair country in coordination with other members,” she said. “The Russian position was voiced many times, we see as unsuitable the participation in the BRICS format of representatives (of) … states that pursue neocolonial courses of the collective West toward a huge number of states.”

BRICS was established to boost the role of developing countries in the multipolar world, she added.

"We are persuaded that the participation of the French president would not contribute to the implementation of these tasks. Unfortunately, France has nothing to offer to this association that could attract it," she stressed.

On July 23, South African media reported that Macron wanted to attend the BRICS summit in Johannesburg but the country's president did not send him an invitation.

According to reports, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, as the BRICS chair, has sent invitations to the leaders of 70 countries, but neither French President Macron nor the leaders of the United States and Great Britain are among those invited.

Amid concerns some countries might call for the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin at the summit over the Ukraine conflict, Putin is not set to attend, but Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will represent Moscow at the gathering, set for Aug. 22-24.