Ushakov said that on the eve of the summit in Kazan, BRICS received 35 applications to join the organization in one condition or another. One of the most important results of the summit was the establishment of the category of BRICS partner countries and agreement on a list of 13 countries.

The new ‘partner country’ status was approved at the BRICS summit in October, hosted by Russia in Kazan. The status provides for permanent participation in special sessions of BRICS summits and foreign ministers’ meetings, as well as other high-level events. Partners can also contribute to the group’s outcome documents.

BRICS initially comprised Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, and was expanded earlier this year to include Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates.