Belarusian Ambassador to Brazil Sergey Lukashevich has passed to the Brazilian government a note conforming Minsk's desire to become a full-fledged member of BRICS, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
"Ambassador of the Republic of Belarus to the Federative Republic of Brazil, Sergey Lukashevich, met with Brazilian Deputy Foreign Minister Maria Luisa Escorel who supervises the country's cooperation with Belarus. During the meeting, a note was passed to the Brazilian side, which confirms Belarus's desire to become a full-fledged member of BRICS," the ministry said in a statement.
It added that at the meeting, the parties focused on strengthening the cooperation between Belarus and Brazil within the framework of multilateral diplomacy, and noted both countries' readiness to enhance their political, commercial and economic ties.
"The parties discussed the importance of potassium fertilizers supplies to the Brazilian market and the prospects of Belarus's participation in Brazil's government programs for private and family farms," the statement read.
BRICS unites the world's largest developing economies — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. South Africa, which assumed the rotating BRICS presidency in January, will host the 15th BRICS summit in August.
Currently, there are a number of countries that have officially declared their aspirations for membership in BRICS, including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Argentina, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Egypt and Algeria, with the latter announcing its bid as recently as this month.