Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that the BRICS group was open to accepting new members and that no countries which wished to join would be excluded.

The Kremlin leader also told reporters that cooperation between Russia and China was one of the main factors to promoting global stability.

Putin will host a summit of the BRICS countries next week. The grouping has expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates as well as Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

(Writing by Lucy Papachristou Editing by Gareth Jones)