Russia welcomes Algeria's intention to join BRICS

Moscow welcomes Algeria's intention to join the BRICS, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said on Tuesday.

Algeria submitted on Monday an official application to join the BRICS economic bloc, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, reports suggested, citing Leila Zaruki, the Algerian Foreign Ministry special envoy for international partnership.

"Of course, we welcome the desire of our partners and like-minded people to join the work of such formats as BRICS, SCO [Shanghai Cooperation Organization]. We have a trust-based dialogue with Algeria, it is being maintained. But this issue [the accession of new members to the BRICS] is being discussed within the framework of collective work," Bogdanov said.

BRICS is an informal association of major developing economies that was formed in 2006 to enhance cooperation between the members and elaborate common approaches to global economic challenges. The nations in the bloc represent around 40 percent of the global population and around a quarter of the world’s GDP.