"We are waiting for the BRICS summit to be held at the end of August. And the topic of expansion will be on the agenda. The BRICS participants will discuss this," Peskov told Russian broadcaster RT Arabic, adding that Russia "is pleased that more and more countries are showing a keen interest in this association."
BRICS is an informal association of the world's major developing economies formed in 2006, which comprises Brazil, Russia, India and China, with South Africa joining the group in 2010. The latter, the current chair of the BRICS grouping, stated that at least 19 countries have expressed an interest to join the BRICS grouping.
In particular, Algeria submitted its official application in November last year. In December, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune expressed hope that his country could join the alliance in 2023.
South Africa, which assumed the rotating BRICS presidency in January, will host the 15th BRICS summit in August.