MOSCOW, August 27. /TASS/. The BRICS expansion was driven by the unprecedented aggression unleashed by the West against Russia, Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergey Naryshkin said.

"Over the years, the BRICS family has consistently widened, growing into a group of five, and today it comprises 11 countries (Saudi Arabia is part of BRICS as an invited country - TASS). The unprecedented aggression of the West against our country played a certain role in this. The unifying potential of BRICS has grown significantly since the ideas of neocolonial dominance were revealed to the world in all their unattractive form," Naryshkin, who is also Chairman of the Russian Historical Society, said at a roundtable discussion of Eurasian cooperation and the formation of a multipolar world order held to mark the 25th anniversary of the SCO’s founding and the 20th anniversary of BRICS’s founding.

"Looking at the futile and desperate attempts to force Russia to abandon its national interests, many countries around the world have not only distanced themselves from the reckless campaign waged across the ocean but have also become more actively seeking alternative, non·Western platforms for international cooperation. Participation in BRICS has become a symbol of belonging to a world where peoples have the right to determine their own fate and build their future without having to heed the self·proclaimed masters of the world."