Cuba could become a member of the BRICS as of January 1, 2025, according to Sergei Ryabkov, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, who shared this information with the Izvestia newspaper today.
The Caribbean nation, along with Bolivia, has been invited to join the group.
The deputy foreign minister stressed that negotiations on the inclusion of the invited states of the group in the status of partners have not yet been finalized, but Russia has not received any refusal.
Ryabkov emphasized that the process of integrating the invited countries has not yet been completed, but so far Russia has not been notified of any negative responses. The outcomes will be made public in a matter of days.
On October 23, presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov announced that a list of 13 countries that could potentially join the BRICS had been agreed upon.
On November 15, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin announced that Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia had joined the group. Additionally, Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko revealed that Vietnam had expressed its intention to become a partner state.
On January 1, 2024, the BRICS had welcomed Egypt, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, and Saudi Arabia.
Russia became the first president of the enlarged BRICS, while Brazil will assume the presidency next year.
