Русский
Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro has expressed interest in his country’s entry into BRCIS, while his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva intends to facilitate the promotion of candidacy of the neighboring country.
“President Petro expressed Colombia’s interest in joining BRICS as a full-fledged member as soon as possible, while President Lula welcomed this initiative, being committed to promotion of Colombia’s candidacy,” according to a statement published on the website of the Colombian government following the talks between Brazilian and Colombian presidents.
The BRICS group, established in 2006, first expanded in 2011, when South Africa joined the four founding nations of Brazil, Russia, India and China. The decision to invite six more countries to join BRICS, including Argentina, was made at the group’s summit in Johannesburg in August 2023. However, Argentina declined the invitation to join in late December. Five new members (Egypt, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia) formally became full-fledged members of the BRICS group on January 1, 2024.
Russia-Columbia bilateral trade is running at about US$600 million with 2/3 of this being Russian exports, mainly mixed mineral and chemical fertilizers. Colombia exports mainly beef and coffee to Russia.
