The Russian foreign minister is in Cape Town for meetings with his BRICS counterparts

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has held talks with his counterparts from the BRICS group in Cape Town as part of his visit to South Africa.

The meeting on Thursday, which brought together the foreign ministers of Russia, Brazil, India, and South Africa, as well as Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ma Zhaoxu, included discussions on preparations for the 15th BRICS summit, which is scheduled for August 23-24 in Johannesburg.

The talks, which were hosted by South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor, also focused on the group's possible expansion to include the major oil-producing nations of Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates.

Speaking to RT on the sidelines of the Cape Town meeting, Sergey Ryabkov, Russia's deputy foreign minister, said Moscow welcomes the "initiative of the South African session that invited a great number of important influential countries to the ministerial meeting."

"We invest into BRICS both political will and practical readiness to be there where things happen," Ryabkov added.