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Putin's Participation in BRICS Summit in Video Format Extremely Effective: SA Foreign Ministry

16:31, 23 August 2023
© Sputnik / Mikhail Klimentyev
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Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the BRICS Business Forum on the opening day of the Summit in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
Sputnik
The South African Foreign Ministry has said that the online participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the ongoing BRICS Summit in Johannesburg is “extremely effective” and “very useful”.

“I must assure you that the active participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the discussion of the agenda of the summit is appreciated by all the other leaders of the BRICS countries, it is very effective,” Nelson Kgwete, a spokesperson for the South African Foreign Ministry, told Russian media.

“It feels like the Russian leader is present in the meeting halls of the summit, side-by-side with other leaders of the BRICS countries. Now, they are doing very effective and important work,” the spokesperson stated.

The Russian delegation at the BRICS Summit this week is being led by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The first day of the BRICS Summit concluded with the ‘Retreat’, a closed-door engagement among the BRICS states to discuss global developments and the grouping’s role.

Discussions also took place on the possible expansion of the grouping, with 22 countries having formally applied to join the grouping.

Around 3-5 countries are expected to be admitted to the grouping, albeit their membership applications could take up to an year.
Putin has said that his decision to not attend the Summit was driven by the fact that his presence in Russia was “more important”.
On Tuesday, Putin chaired a meeting of the Council for Strategic Development and National Projects, to deliberate on the “current status of reaching our national development goals”, according to the Kremlin.

BRICS Summit Agenda

The BRICS leaders participated in a “closed plenary” on Wednesday, followed by an “open plenary” which will be attended by New Development Bank (NDB) President Dilma Rousseff among other high-profile delegates.

Intra-BRICS cooperation, reform of the multilateral system and counter-terrorism issues were the key themes of discussion during the closed plenary, according to information shared by India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

The BRICS leaders will attend the ‘BRICS-Africa Outreach’ and ‘BRICS Plus Dialogue’ on Thursday, the final day of the Summit.
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