Kremlin's Stance on Saudi Arabia's BRICS Membership

MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin revised earlier statements characterizing Saudi Arabia as a BRICS member and left unresolved the question of its representation at the upcoming BRICS summit in Russia next week.

Saudi Arabia has received an invitation to join BRICS but has not yet made a formal decision. Despite this, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov previously called it a member and stated that its foreign minister would be attending the summit in Kazan, Russia.

When asked about Saudi Arabia's status within BRICS, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov remarked, "The summit will take place now, we will supply additional information on who will represent Saudi Arabia, whether it will be represented at this summit, and we will draw conclusions from this."

High Saudi participation in the October 22-24 summit would enhance Russia's position, especially after it urged group partners to collaborate on establishing new global financial institutions as alternatives to the International Monetary Fund.

BRICS, which originally included Brazil, Russia, India, and China, has expanded to add South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. Moscow regards the growth of this bloc as crucial to counteracting U.S. global dominance and to resist Western attempts to isolate it through sanctions related to the Ukraine conflict.

"Russia is not isolated. In the modern world, it is very difficult to isolate any country, especially a state like the Russian Federation," Peskov noted.

Saudi Arabia plays a vital role for Russia, maintaining close cooperation within the OPEC+ organization of oil-producing nations. President Putin has fostered a close personal rapport with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and visited him in Riyadh last December, remarking that Russia's relationship with the kingdom has reached an "unprecedented level."