Egypt has 'applied' to join Brics, says Russian ambassador

Egypt is applying to join the Brics group of developing economies, according to the Russian ambassador to the country.

"Egypt has applied to join the Brics group, because one of the initiatives that Brics is currently engaged in is the maximum transfer of trade to alternative currencies, whether national or the creation of some kind of joint currency," Georgy Borisenko told Russian state news agency TASS on Wednesday.

"Egypt is very interested in this."

He added that the two countries were planning new trade agreements and were looking at "new mechanisms for mutual settlements in these trade operations".

Diplomats from the Brics countries - a group of the world’s emerging economies Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa - had earlier this month suggested the bloc could be open to expansion.

During a conference in South Africa, the diplomats called for a "rebalancing" of the global order.

"Our gathering must send out a strong message that the world is multipolar, that it is rebalancing and that old ways cannot address new situations," India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said during opening remarks. 

"We are a symbol of change and must act accordingly."

The bloc has been facing a dilemma over Russia's invasion of Ukraine as it attempts to forge an alternative foreign policy platform to the West.

During the Cape Town conference, South Africa dodged the issue of whether Russian President Vladimir Putin would be arrested at a subsequent Brics summit in August.

Putin is subject to an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court, of which South Africa is a member, and the country would be expected to arrest him.