Sergei Ryabkov to Vestnik Kavkaza: Russia to support Azerbaijan's bid to join BRICS

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Vestnik Kavkaza today that Moscow not only welcomes Azerbaijan's decision to join BRICS, but will also do everything possible to help Baku achieve this goal.

"We certainly welcome our Azerbaijani friends' appeal. Azerbaijan's application has been accepted by the Russian chairmanship, and we will work on it together with all BRICS participants. Of course, we support Azerbaijan's application, there is no doubt about that," he said in the first place.

Sergei Ryabkov said that BRICS decisions are made unanimously, by consensus, so not everything and not always depends only on the chairmanship. "But this does not mean that I am giving any assessments of Azerbaijan's chances at the moment. Quite the contrary: I consider Azerbaijan a very strong candidate," he emphasized.

"I am confident that we will have a clearer picture on this matter after the BRICS summit in Kazan. Russia's support for Azerbaijan is guaranteed," the Russian Deputy FM concluded.