Speaking at a press conference on the results of the G20 summit in Brazil, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described the results of the summit as positive. According to him, important agreements were reached.

The Russian Foreign Minister noted the strengthening of the role and influence of BRICS in the G20.

“This was visible in New Delhi at last year’s summit and the year before in Indonesia. And here (at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro – Ed.) it became especially clear,” he said.

Lavrov believes that the strengthening of the BRICS position in the G20 was facilitated by the African Union joining the group as a full member, as well as by the invitation to the G20 summit of the leadership of the Arab League and the head of the BRICS New Development Bank, Dilma Rousseff.

During the press conference, the Russian Foreign Minister, touched upon the strengthening of food security and the restructuring of the global financial architecture. Responding to a question of TV BRICS correspondent Dmitry Belkevich on reforming global governance institutions, he emphasised that the summit’s final declaration states the need to reform the UN Security Council (UNSC) by including new permanent members.

“We support, as you know, India and Brazil, who have explicitly stated their desire to run for permanent membership [of the UNSC]. But in order for that to be fair, it is imperative that the African interest be considered in the same capacity” – Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister.

In addition, the minister said that at the summit he presented to the G20 countries Russian President Vladimir Putin’s initiative to form a Greater Eurasian Partnership involving the Eurasian Economic Union, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and other associations.

The G20 summit is taking place in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro on 18-19 November. The leaders of the group’s countries adopted a final declaration, in which they called for increased representation in the UN Security Council of the states of Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition, one of the outcomes of the summit was the launch of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty.

African Times published this article in partnership with International Media Network TV BRICS