The deputy secretary of Russia's Security Council Alexander Venediktov said that the Western envoys were resorting to bribes and threats to prevent the BRICS expansion.
"It goes without saying that these tendencies [the enlargement of the BRICS] do not please the West. They want to build a new world only for the elite, in which the rights and interests of everyone else will simply not be taken into account. We see endless trips of their emissaries to different parts of the globe in the hope of changing the natural course of history by resorting to either bribes or threats. However, today it is absolutely clear that Western attempts to discredit the multipolar model of international cooperation do not bring any results," Venediktov told Sputnik.
A diplomatic success
The official also indicated that the accession of new members of the BRICS had been a success of Russian diplomacy and a common achievement of all the members of the group, as more countries will express their desire to join the group now, according to him.
"This is not only a success of Russian diplomacy. It is a common success of all the members of the 'five'. But above all, it is a testimony to the objective willingness of regional leaders to find approaches based on compromises and to establish mutually beneficial international cooperation with the other countries of the world majority," Venediktov noted.
The BRICS enlargement was announced by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at a joint press conference of the leaders of the five countries at the end of the 15th summit. On January 1, 2024, the group will be joined by Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Iran.