Malaysia has submitted an application to join BRICS, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced on July 28. According to him, Kuala Lumpur has expressed its willingness to be, if not a member, then a strategic partner of the group. "Malaysia has sent a letter to Russia, as the chair of BRICS, with an application to join the organization, and also expressed openness to participate as a member country or strategic partner," the prime minister was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti. Ibrahim noted that he discussed the issue of joining the organization with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who arrived in Malaysia the day before. At the end of June, the Kremlin reported receiving 30 applications to join BRICS from various countries. Russian Presidential Assistant Yuri Ushakov noted that the number of countries wishing to join the work of this organization in various forms is constantly growing. For instance, in mid-June, the Thai Foreign Minister submitted a corresponding application to his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. Earlier, Turkey also expressed its desire to join BRICS.