Lavrov made the remarks when he was received by his Kazakh counterpart, Murat Nurtleu, at the local Foreign Ministry headquarters, where he arrived to hold working meetings and coordinate Russian President Vladimir Putin’s upcoming visit to the Central Asian country.
On 1 January, Russia took over the rotating presidency of the Brics group for 2024, a year that began with the admission of new members.
The bloc, originally made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, was expanded to include Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia and Iran.
The grouping now represents almost half the world’s population, 40 per cent of global oil production and around 25 per cent of merchandise exports.
mh/mpm/gfa