The Russian foreign minister has spoken to reporters at the BRICS summit in Brazil
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 6, 2025. © Getty Images / Wagner Meier
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has held a press conference at the 17th annual BRICS summit. The two-day event kicked off on Sunday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which currently holds the group’s rotating presidency.
This year, the summit focuses on multilateral cooperation, as well as global development and governance issues. Speaking during the second session of the summit earlier on Monday, Lavrov said the group has been striving for “a more stable global economic architecture that is built on the principles of universality, transparency, and non-discrimination.”
The top Russian diplomat also called for a fundamental reform of international institutions, arguing that many have long since degraded into neo-colonial tools of control. The emerging multipolar world is “not a choice but rather an objective reality,” he stated, adding that the new model is set to succeed “the outdated neo-liberal model that actually builds on neo-colonial practices” dominated by “the so-called developed states of the West.”
BRICS was founded primarily as a trade and development group in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India, and China, with South Africa joining in 2010. Over the past year, the group has extended full membership to Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia, as well as welcoming ten partner states.
This year’s summit brings together around 4,000 participants from 37 nations, including senior dignitaries from member states, partner countries, and international institutions.
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07 July 2025
15:54 GMT
Lavrov has urged the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to take responsibility for its assessment of Iran’s nuclear program, which the UN agency released shortly before the recent Israeli strikes against the country. The agency must avoid politicizing the nuclear issue and “strictly adhere to the responsibilities it is vested with,” the Russian foreign minister stressed.
“These assessments have been widely perceived as ambiguous. Unlike previous [IAEA] reports, they are open to interpretation to imply that Iran is not fulfilling its obligations in good faith.”
- 15:35 GMT
Asked about the recent deadly attacks on Russian passenger trains, which have been attributed to Ukraine and now condemned in the joint BRICS statement, Lavrov said Russia was not seeking any international help in investigating the incidents.
“Such attacks have long been banned by numerous conventions… As for bringing those responsible to justice, we are not trying to throw this topic into the international discussion. We are doing this ourselves… No one must escape responsibility,” the top diplomat said.
- 15:31 GMT
Lavrov has dismissed the accusations repeatedly voiced by US President Donald Trump that BRICS is an anti-American group. Trump has threatened to impose an additional 10% tariff on any country that “aligns itself” with BRICS and its allegedly “anti-American policies.” The Russian foreign minister has suggested that the claims are yet another sign of the erosion of the unipolar world order.
“No one knows when and why someone ends up being punished. Even those considered to be allies of the US cannot feel safe,” Lavrov said.
© Sputnik / Kirill Zykov
- 15:22 GMT
The Russian foreign minister has dismissed concerns voiced in the West that the expansion of BRICS could erode its unity and ultimately derail the group, stating that BRICS has been built upon the principles of equality and mutual respect.
“I believe they are reflecting… on the expansion of NATO, which did nothing good for anyone, including, in my opinion, the members of the military bloc themselves. The strife is deepening within it… since more and more nations seek to act based not on some ideological dogmas imposed by their master but on their national interests,” Lavrov stated.
- 15:16 GMT
Asked about the extended format of the summit, which has brought together representatives of some 37 nations, including ten official partner countries, the Russian foreign minister said that the big turnout is not surprising.
“Unlike guest-nations, [partner] countries are set to participate in all BRICS events, not only summits or ministerial events, but the majority of sectoral meetings as well, dedicated to various economic, humanitarian and other issues,” Lavrov explained.
- 15:01 GMT
BRICS is working to create a “more stable, more fair, multipolar world order, which would rely on the principles outlined in the UN Charter,” Lavrov has said.
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