MOSCOW: BRICS is not a military union and there are no plans to transform it into one, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has...
MOSCOW: BRICS is not a military union and there are no plans to transform it into one, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has told TASS.
"I would like to remind you that BRICS is not a military union and not a collective security organization with collective defense commitments. It has never been planned as such, and there are no plans to transform it for the purpose," he said.
"As far as the recent naval exercise in South Africa is concerned, BRICS members participated in it as sovereign nations. It was not a BRICS event," he added.
When asked whether BRICS can somehow safeguard commercial ships of its members from attacks, he said the group had no collective mechanisms for the purpose, "other than improving logistics and ensuring greater protection from sanctions."
"This is not the task that we have set for ourselves. This security needs to be ensured by other means," he added.
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