The United States and the West are making huge efforts against the BRICS countries, putting pressure on the association's members, former International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Director for Russia Aleksei Mozhin told Sputnik.
"They - and the US in particular - are making huge efforts in an attempt to hold the BRICS countries by the tail... The countries are under enormous pressure," Mozhin said in his final interview before leaving his post on November 1, commenting on the West's concerns about the development of BRICS.
He said Washington is trying to influence the BRICS members through its embassies.
Mozhin said Western countries are concerned about the deepening of cooperation between the members of the association, but refuse to admit it.
"They are lying when they say that they are not concerned about the deepening of cooperation between the BRICS countries, that they have excellent bilateral relations with most of these countries," he said.
Aside from that, Mozhin said that the EU economy was deliberately ruined by the refusal to use reliable energy supplies from Russia.
"The European Union is in a deplorable state. The economy has been killed. And it has been killed deliberately, because for more than 50 years Europe prospered largely thanks to extremely reliable supplies of cheap Russian energy. However, now they have cut it off themselves," he said.
He added that the decision to stop using Russian energy was made with the participation of the "big brother" in the person of the United States.
"As a result, the economy is not growing, and I do not know how they will get out of this situation," Mozhin said.