Fernandez had celebrated the invitation extended by the bloc, comprised of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, at the time. Six other countries, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Ethiopia, were invited as well out of over 20 other countries that had applied to join the pact.
The US has been paying close attention to BRICS since their 2024 Summit took place back in August, with many believing a their goal is to replace the dollar as the global currency.
Mondino simply wrote on X: "We will not join the BRICS"
She will serve as newly elected Javier Milei's foreign minister once he is sworn in on December 10.
In a conversation with Benzinga, the future minister said, "The invitation to the BRICs has not yet been accepted. The BRICS are still not a commercial bloc; for now, it is more akin to a political alignment, and in Argentina, we hope to achieve multilateralism, and not align ourselves with one group of countries or another."
The outgoing Argentinian government had worked towards creating closer ties with China, Russia and Iran, shifting the country away from its neutrality in international conflict. Under Milei's new government, many Argentinians are hopeful the country will return to this sense of security and independence.
Mondino had previously criticized BRICS, stating it “is more related to a political alignment than to advantages that could exist for trade between countries,” she said in an interview two weeks ago. “We already have diplomatic and trade relations with most of them.”
