On April 11, 2023, Ilya I. Rogachev, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of South Africa and concurrently to the Kingdom of Lesotho, began thematic speeches. In his speech, Ilya I. Rogachev, quoting the statement of the African ethical doctrine of Ubuntu: “I exist because you exist,” noted the high commitment of the BRICS member countries to joint activities. This topic was also continued by Tatiana L. Deitch, PhD in Historical Sciences, a leading researcher at the Institute of Africa of the Russian Academy of Sciences. She noted the active assistance of Russia, China and India not only in the supply of necessary equipment and medicines to the Republic of South Africa in order to combat coronavirus infection, but also the work of the countries to train highly qualified medical staff.

Further, the participants of the Week of Russian Diplomacy were able to hear speeches by leading researchers of the Institute of China and Modern Asia of the Russian Academy of Sciences, formerly known as the Institute of the Far East of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Tlesh M. Mamakhatov, PhD in Economics, a leading researcher at the Center “Russia, China, the World”, spoke about the prospects for the development of BRICS in the conditions of international turbulence. The speaker stressed the high role of national interests in the issue of expanding the association, since domestic problems are always paramount for each country:

“For the further expansion of the BRICS, it is also necessary to resolve national issues.”

Rosalia A. Varfalovskaya, a leading researcher at the Center for Socio-Economic Research of China, Ph.D. in Economics, expressed hope for the creation of a single currency unit within the framework of the BRICS in order to eliminate problems hindering trade turnover, since cooperation between the participating countries is only expanding, especially in the field of healthcare.:

“Of course, a lot of efforts between the participants have been thrown into the fight against the pandemic, so cooperation within the framework of healthcare will only increase.”

Moreover, we found out that the world community expects the expansion of BRICS, which may occur due to the accession of African and Latin American countries to the union.

Photo: Matvey Sidorov