"The long queue for accession, primarily to BRICS, but also to the SCO, clearly points to the growing role of these structures, which is fully in our interests," Lavrov told a session of the ruling party's commission on international cooperation and support of compatriots abroad.
Moscow intends to increase cooperation with other states within the framework of these structures especially given that Russia and some other countries "are subjected to discriminatory measures by the West," the Russian foreign minister also stated.
Currently, there are a number of countries that have officially declared their aspirations for membership in BRICS, including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Argentina, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Egypt and Algeria, with the latter announcing its bid as recently as this month.
On Saturday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the topic of BRICS enlargement would be on the agenda of the summit in August.
BRICS unites the world's largest developing economies — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. South Africa, which assumed the rotating BRICS presidency in January, will host the 15th BRICS summit in August.