"Russia's BRICS chairmanship will put special effort into increasing coordination among foreign policies and promoting common interests of the BRICS member states at international parliamentary platforms … It is very important that our actions are coordinated with our colleagues," Zhukov said at BRICS Expert Forum at SPIEF-2024.
The BRICS Parliamentary Forum will take part in St. Petersburg in a month, he added.
"I hope that all the BRICS countries will be represented … The issues of approximation of national legislation will be discussed," the lawmaker said.
Much attention will be paid to the issues of logistics and anti-terrorist measures, Zhukov said.
Another topical issue in BRICS is the development of internal financial settlements within the organization, which would not depend on the Western banking system, the lawmaker added.
"Today, one of the most important, urgent issues is to create settlements within BRICS that would not depend on Western currencies, on the Western banking system," he said, adding that currently over 80% of all payments between the BRICS members are carried out in national currencies.
Russia took over the rotating chairmanship of BRICS in January. The club of developing economies grew by four members this year and now comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates.
The Russian city of St. Petersburg is hosting the 27th edition of SPIEF from June 5-8. Last year, the forum drew 17,000 participants from 130 countries and saw the signing of more than 900 agreements.
The BRICS Expert Forum "The Role of the BRICS in the Search for a New World Order" is being held at SPIEF on June 6, with sessions organized by the Rossiya Segodnya media group, parent agency to Sputnik, and Xinhua news agency.