Azerbaijan formally applies to join BRICS

Azerbaijan formally applied Tuesday to join the BRICS bloc of developing economies, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to the oil-rich South Caucasus country. The visit aimed to shore up regional ties and secure Moscow’s under-pressure trade routes.

The foreign ministry in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku made the announcement. It comes as the BRICS alliance has seen a major expansion. For over a decade, the bloc included only five nations: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

In January, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia joined the alliance.

The club already includes some of the world’s biggest oil producers, and constitutes well over a quarter of the world’s GDP.

Business ties were high on the agenda during Putin’s meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Monday. President Aliyev announced that $120 million had been earmarked to boost cargo transport between the two countries.

Putin increasingly relies on countries such as Azerbaijan to access global markets due to the sanctions imposed on Moscow over its ongoing war with Ukraine, according to political scientist Zardusht Alizade.

For Azerbaijan, maintaining Moscow’s good-will is essential for national security over tensions with neighbouring Armenia, added Alizade.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia has been Armenia’s longtime sponsor and ally. However, relations between the two countries became increasingly strained since September 2023, when Azerbaijan’s military took control of the Karabakh region, ending three decades of ethnic Armenian separatist rule.

Attribution: The Associated Press