Kremlin backtracks from comments on Saudi BRICS membership

The Kremlin rowed back on Tuesday from earlier comments describing Saudi Arabia as a member of the BRICS group of countries, and left open the question of whether the kingdom would be represented at a BRICS summit in Russia next week.

Saudi Arabia has been invited to join BRICS but has not yet formally done so. Last week, however, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov described it as a BRICS member and said its foreign minister would attend the summit in the Russian city of Kazan.

Asked to clarify Saudi Arabia's status in BRICS, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "The summit will take place now, we will supply additional information on who will represent Saudi Arabia, whether it will be represented at this summit, and we will draw conclusions from this."

High-level Saudi involvement in the Oct. 22-24 summit would be a boost for Russia, which last week called on its partners in the group to work together to create new global financial institutions as an alternative to the International Monetary Fund.

BRICS, originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, and China, has expanded to include South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. Moscow sees the development of the group as an important part of its strategy to counter U.S. global influence and defeat Western attempts to isolate it with sanctions over the war in Ukraine.

"Russia is not isolated. In the modern world, it is very difficult to isolate any country, especially a state like the Russian Federation," Peskov said.

Saudi Arabia is a key partner for Russia. The two countries cooperate closely in the OPEC+ group of oil-producing countries.

President Vladimir Putin has cultivated a warm personal relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and visited him in Riyadh last December, declaring at the time that Russia's ties with the kingdom were at an "unprecedented level".