Russian Sherpa: BRICS continues working on the biggest international security challenges

On 22 May 2015, Moscow hosted Deputies of Foreign Affairs Ministers Consultations on the situation in the Middle East and North Africa.

Speaking about the outcome of the meeting with journalists, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and BRICS Sherpa Sergei Ryabkov said the Middle East was the most conflict-ridden region in the world, with the most complex tangle of contradictions. He also expressed appreciation of the BRICS diplomats' willingness to meet in Moscow to compare their approaches and to search for joint solutions to the problems of the Middle East.

"I'm sure that BRICS has huge potential for working in all regions that have problems. The Middle East is on fire, and the BRICS countries definitely cannot remain aloof to this. We are coordinating a collective stand on the situation there," Mr Ryabkov said. He added that BRICS countries have contributed to solving Middle Eastern problems individually but not as a group, and cited the example of Russian-Chinese naval support to chemical disarmament in Syria.

"BRICS is not only about the economy. We are also dealing with long-term and very serious challenges to international security. In so doing, we are not trying to force our views or formulas on anyone, disregarding the interests of each individual member of the group and the group as a whole," Mr Ryabkov said.

Our next step should be to involve BRICS as an international structure in working on all these issues, the Russian Sherpa said, adding that he was confident of success.