MOSCOW, July 29 Despite the fact that BRICS was created as a counterweight to the West, the alliance cannot be called anti-Western, said Georgy Toloraya, executive director of the National Committee for BRICS Research.
«Although BRICS was created as a counterweight to the West, it cannot be called an anti-Western alliance,» he said.
«Ultimately, of all the members of the association, only Russia is currently in direct confrontation with the West. This is an important point that cannot be forgotten,» the agency's source added.
The association, according to him, «in principle does not exclude the inclusion of Western countries, but on its own terms, as one of its elements, but not as a dominant force.»
«It is simply wrong to exclude Western states on the basis that they were colonizers in the past. This contradicts the very spirit of BRICS,» Toloraya emphasized.
«There is only one condition for membership in this club — compliance with its rules, its charters. For now, however, the very essence of the policy of Western countries that have unleashed a sanctions war against Russia and its friends contradicts the foundations of BRICS. After all, one of the requirements for BRICS partners is not to join the sanctions against its members,» he concluded.