Johannesburg: Argentina, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE will become new members of the BRICS grouping (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), Brazilian news portal UOL reported, citing the draft final document of the summit.

According to the report, in order to maintain a geographical balance, one more African country could be included in the list.

The BRICS summit is being held in Johannesburg on August 22-24. It is attended by the leaders of China, India, Brazil and South Africa. Russia is represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in the summit via videoconference.

A total of 23 states have recently expressed their desire to join BRICS, including Argentina, Iran, Algeria, Tunisia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.