Turkish president to attend BRICS summit in Kazan - Russian deputy FM

MOSCOW. Oct 3 (Interfax) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has confirmed that he will attend the upcoming BRICS summit in Kazan, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.

"President Erdogan has confirmed his participation in the BRICS summit's session in the outreach/BRICS plus format. Therefore, matters, including the Ukrainian issue, will also be discussed at the top level, when we will welcome the Turkish leader in Kazan," Ryabkov said at a press conference in Moscow.

When speaking about Turkey's application to join BRICS, he said that "all decisions within the group are adopted by consensus."

"We respect the intention of Turkey, as well as the intention of all states that are interested in building systemic interaction with BRICS to forge closer ties with the group," Ryabkov said.

"More than 30 states, among them our next-door neighbors and partners from the [Eurasian Economic Union] EAEU and the [Commonwealth of Independent States] CIS, have already confirmed" their participation in the upcoming summit," he said.

"Besides, we expect the heads of regional organizations, of the executive bodies of the relevant entities to come to Kazan," he said.

The BRICS summit is due to take place in Kazan, the capital of Russia's internal republic of Tatarstan, on October 22-24.