Following the BRICS summit in Kazan, Belarus received the status of a partner country.
The country's president, Alexander Lukashenko, announced this in an interview with the Russian publication Izvestia on the sidelines of the summit.
The head of state's statement is quoted by his press service .
The President noted that he was somewhat surprised by the fact that about 30 countries expressed a desire to join BRICS, and 12 or 13 became partners.
Why aren’t other countries accepted into BRICS? – Lukashenko asked.
The head of state expressed the opinion that Turkey should be admitted to BRICS.
Lukashenko noted that this is the only country of the North Atlantic Alliance that has shown interest in BRICS.
No, they didn’t accept it. They came up with this “dressing room” in the form of a partner, the president added.