BRICS leaders adopt declaration of their summit in Johannesburg

Photo: Sergey Bobylev/TASS

The BRICS summit, taking place in Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 22-24, is the largest gathering of Global South heads of state and government in recent years. Its guests include the leaders of 54 African countries.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is participating in the event via video link, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is onsite representing Russia in person.

The BRICS leaders adopted a declaration of their 15th summit in Johannesburg, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday.

According to the document, six new members, namely, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, will join BRICS next year.

Leaders of BRICS member states (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) have tasked their countries’ finance ministries and central banks with considering the possibility of launching national currencies-based payment instruments and platforms, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday, TASS informs.

"We have noted that there is global momentum for the use of local currencies, alternative financial arrangements and alternative payment systems. As BRICS, we are ready to explore opportunities for improving the stability, reliability and fairness of the global financial architecture. The Summit agreed to task the BRICS Finance Ministers and/or Central Bank Governors, as appropriate, to consider the issue of local currencies, payment instruments and platforms and report back to the BRICS leaders by the next Summit," he said.

The decision on BRICS enlargement, adopted at the summit, will give the association more strength, Chinese President Xi Jinping said at a news conference on the results of the 15th BRICS summit on Thursday, TASS informs.

"The enlargement will be a new starting point for the development of cooperation within BRICS and give the BRICS group more strength," Xi said. "I believe that as long as we work together, BRICS cooperation will have great prospects and the BRICS countries – a promising future."

The results of the 15-th BRICS summit have been brilliant and US attempts to weaponize "isolation" have been vanquished forever, - Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in her Telegram channel.

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