Belarus officially gets BRICS partner status

Belarusian President Lukashenko signs letter addressed to Russia's Putin signaling country's readiness to join bloc

Belarus has announced that it has been officially granted partner country status within the BRICS bloc.

In a statement, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry confirmed that a letter from President Alexander Lukashenko to Russian President Vladimir Putin was delivered by Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov to Moscow’s Ambassador to Minsk, Boris Gryzlov.

The letter, dated November 5, expressed Belarus’ readiness to join BRICS as a partner country and was handed over during a personal meeting between Ryzhenkov and Gryzlov.

The statement emphasised that an official response to the invitation is a required step in the process for obtaining partner status. “From this moment, Belarus is officially recognised as a BRICS partner,” the ministry added.

The statement also shared the contents of Lukashenko’s letter, in which he praised the growing multilateral cooperation within BRICS, noting its role as a cornerstone of multipolarity.

He expressed gratitude to Putin for supporting Belarus’s bid and highlighted the formalization of the country’s partnership under Russia’s BRICS presidency.

The BRICS partner status offers Belarus permanent participation in special sessions of the bloc’s summits and foreign ministers’ meetings. Additionally, partners can contribute to the final documents of BRICS, broadening the group's global influence and strengthening its role in international diplomacy.

BRICS, originally founded in 2009 by Brazil, Russia, India, and China, expanded to include South Africa in 2011. In December 2023, the bloc invited six additional nations — Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE — to join as new members.