BRICS members are not bound by common obligations like the EU, but instead share common goals and interests - RT quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan (Russia) on October 22, Mr. Peskov explained that the BRICS group still "does not have the necessary attributes to be considered an organization", such as clearly defined charter or rules.
Instead, Mr. Peskov described BRICS as "an association of countries sharing common values and common principles", and pledged to adhere to the common principles of mutual respect and mutual benefit without "monocentrism".
The Kremlin spokesman pointed out that the EU is an organization with its own legal documents, clear rules, binding documents and "all common obligations".
The 16th BRICS Summit is being held in Kazan, Russia's fifth largest city, where dozens of foreign leaders have gathered for three days (October 22-24) for bilateral discussions and negotiations. BRICS aims to present a new vision of global multilateralism.
BRICS members are expected to make decisions on a series of important issues to strengthen and improve cooperation in the group - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on October 22 at a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is also attending the 16th BRICS Summit.
"In Kazan, we have to make a series of important decisions to further improve activities and strengthen multifaceted cooperation within the BRICS framework," the Russian president said.
On the same day, President Putin held high-level meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. Mr. Putin also met with President of the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) Dilma Rousseff.
According to President Putin, about 30 countries have expressed interest in cooperating with BRICS in various forms.
BRICS is expected to announce new members at the summit, as well as introduce a new "partnership" status. According to Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov, a total of 13 countries are seeking partner status.
BRIC was founded in 2006 with members Brazil, Russia, India, China. After South Africa joined in 2010, the group changed its name to BRICS (abbreviation of the initials of the English names of the five countries). Ethiopia, Egypt, Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were admitted earlier this year. BRICS currently accounts for about 46% of the world's population and more than 36% of global GDP.
