“Yes, we will participate in it,” Safarian told reporters.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s office has not yet made any statements on his participation in the summit which is scheduled to take place in the Russian city of Kazan on October 22-24.
The BRICS group, an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, represents almost half the world’s population, It was set up by the five nations in 2009 and has since expanded to include other major emerging economies such as the United Arab Emirates and Iran.
Azerbaijan has recently applied for membership in the group. Armenia, whose current government is seeking closer ties with the West, has announced no such plans.
Pashinian has apparently decided to attend the Kazan summit despite his administration’s heightened tensions with Moscow highlighted by a de facto suspension of Armenia’s membership in the Collective Security Organization (CSTO). Pashinian has boycotted CSTO summits over the past year.
The Russian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday again urged Yerevan to resume its “full-fledged participation” in the Russian-led military alliance’s activities.
“Yerevan de jure remains a full member of the CSTO and retains the corresponding rights and obligations,” the ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, told reporters. “The Armenian leadership adheres to the policy of moving away from such interaction, which, in our opinion, is contrary to the interests of the Armenian people.”