Russia has received confirmations from a number of countries about their readiness to become a BRICS Partner Country; this status will be assigned to them from January 1, the Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said at a press briefing.
"One of the important outcomes of the BRICS Kazan Summit was the creation of BRICS Partner Country status and approval of a list of 13 countries. Respective invitations had been sent to these countries. Confirmations of readiness to become a BRICS Partner Country have been received by today from Belarus, Bolivia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Thailand, Uganda and Uzbekistan," he said.
"But we expect that in the near future we will receive responses from four more countries, to which invitations have also been sent," he added.
Representatives of these countries will be invited to some meetings i the framework of BRICS Summits and Ministerial meetings. "We also believe it is right to involve partners in meetings of high-level security representatives, in the parliamentary forum and other events," the Kremlin spokesman concluded.
