Belarus hoping to join BRICS after Kazan summit

MINSK. June 11 (Interfax) - Minsk hopes to join BRICS after the summit in Kazan, Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Aleinik said.

"Belarus fully shares the goals of BRICS and its approaches to the formation of a new, just and genuinely multipolar world order. Our country applied to join the BRICS family last year. Hopefully, decisions that will be made at the upcoming summit in Kazan will allow our country to acquire a new status in the group," Aleinik said at an expanded session of the conference of BRICS foreign ministers, as quoted by the Belarusian Foreign Ministry's press service on Tuesday.

BRICS members, "which have huge technological, financial, human and natural resources, can make a substantial contribution to building a safer and prosperous world," Aleinik said, adding that Belarus was ready to contribute to the joint efforts, including the settlement of the Ukraine crisis.

"BRICS has colossal potential. We need to pool efforts against the fragmentation of the international trade system, increasing protectionism, and illegal unilateral coercive measures," he said.

Belarus views the development of mechanisms for mutual settlements and interbank cooperation as an important task to lower the risks the global financial system can potentially create for any member of the international community, Aleinik said. Minsk supports the idea of broader use of national currencies, he said.

"As a leading global exporter of potash fertilizers and certain categories of food, as well as agricultural machinery and technologies, Belarus is ready to make a contribution to ensuring global food security," he said.

Russia holds the presidency of BRICS this year. The next BRICS summit will take place in Kazan in October.