🎙 President of Russia Vladimir Putin held a meeting with high-ranking representatives of #BRICS states responsible for security matters.

📍 Saint Petersburg, September 12, 2024

💬 President Putin: I am delighted to welcome you all to Saint Petersburg. Thank you for being here in Russia’s northern capital. In this regard, I would like to remind you that the BRICS association was established right here, in this very building in St. Petersburg.

At that time, the leaders of three states – India, Russia and China – agreed during a meeting to hold regular meetings at the top level, as well as other events. This is how the RIC (Russia, India and China) association was born and began to grow, and today, I have the privilege and pleasure to welcome the participants in the meeting of BRICS high-ranking officials for security matters.

I know that yesterday, you had a lively and productive discussion on the most relevant aspects of the global situation, on global and regional stability concerns.

This is the fourteenth meeting held by BRICS in this format. However, this time it saw the participation of delegations from the states that joined our association as full-fledged members on January 1.

Moreover, a meeting was held with our colleagues from the countries that are not yet part of BRICS but have shown a sincere interest in working more closely with our association. This was done at Russia’s initiative, and we appreciate your support.

I want to emphasise that the meeting of high-ranking representatives is a crucial step in preparing for the BRICS summit and BRICS Plus/Outreach, scheduled to take place in Kazan, Russia, on October 22–24. <...>

As the current BRICS chair, this year Russia has taken a highly responsible approach to organising joint activities within the association.

Our chairmanship has been assigned a crucial task: to facilitate the swift and seamless integration of new member countries into all BRICS mechanisms. Additionally, we have addressed the increasing interest in BRICS from numerous states.

☝️ Currently, over 34 countries have expressed their desire to participate in the activities of our association in some capacity.

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I want to highlight that the programme of the Russian presidency is both extensive and varied. It encompasses over 200 events designed to enhance partnership across all key areas. <...> To date, more than 70 percent of the chairmanship plan has been completed.

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