HAVANA, Cuba, Oct. 26, CMC – Cuban President, Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, says the Spanish speaking Caribbean island is honored to join the intergovernmental organization – BRICS, as a partner.
The president made the comment during the 16th BRICS Summit, which concluded earlier this week in Kazan, Russia.
During the meeting, the alliance welcomed 13 countries to participate as partner countries.
The other countries joining as partners are Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
Cuban foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, also underscored Cuba’s commitment to work together with the members in the construction of a development and cooperation agenda that responds to the priorities of the South by being accepted as a partner country.
The three-day summit that was attended by leaders or representatives of 36 countries, also highlighted the failure of United States-led efforts to isolate Russia over its actions in Ukraine.
The conflict came up repeatedly at the meeting, which saw the first visit to Russia from United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in more than two years and drew an angry reaction from Kyiv.
Guterres called for “a just peace” in Ukraine, in line with the U.N. Charter, international law and General Assembly resolutions. He also urged an immediate end to the fighting in Gaza, Lebanon and Sudan.
The summit also covered the deepening of financial cooperation, including the development of alternatives to Western-dominated payment systems, efforts to settle regional conflicts and expansion of the BRICS group of nations.
The alliance that initially included Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa when it was founded in 2009 has expanded to embrace Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia have formally applied to become members, and several other countries have expressed interest in joining.
The Kremlin touted the summit as “the largest foreign policy event ever held” by Russia.
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