Page 28 - RusRPTSept23

Algeria and Bangladesh were also obvious candidates for inclusion in the group. Bangladesh is already a member of the NDB. What was dubbed “the
bottomless basket” by Henry Kissinger is now the bull economy of the Pacific Rim, where per capita incomes recently overtook those of India.
The US has sought to play down the growth of the BRICS group as a supposed rival to its power. Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, told reporters that the Biden administration is “not looking at the BRICS as evolving into some kind of geopolitical rival to the United States or anyone else”.
He said that the United States had “strong positive” relations with Brazil, India and South Africa, adding that “we will continue to manage our relationship with China; and we will continue to push back on Russia’s aggression,” The New York Times reported.
2.9 Ukraine, Nato secret meeting resets military strategy
The West, together with Ukraine, at a secret meeting of the military, assessed the results of the Ukrainian counteroffensive and now proceeds from the continuation of hostilities in 2024. The goal is the same as this year - to achieve maximum success and enter into negotiations with Russia from a strong position.
The Guardian wrote about the details of a secret military council of high-ranking Ukrainian and NATO military personnel on the Polish-Ukrainian border with the participation of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhny and Chief of Defense Staff of the British Armed Forces Tony Radakin.
The newspaper calls the latter NATO's chief military adviser on Ukraine and puts his role higher than even the commander of NATO troops in Europe, General Christopher Cavoli (also attended the meeting). Later, Ukraine officially confirmed the fact of this meeting, which took place in mid-August.
There are two main results, follows from the publication. Firstly, NATO, apparently, managed to convince Kyiv to "reset" the strategy and concentrate maximum forces on the most promising direction of a breakthrough - in Zaporozhye - by refusing to take active actions near Bakhmut. The fact that NATO is dissatisfied with the dispersal of the forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and does not expect success with the current strategy, wrote, for example, The Washington Post.
Secondly, this is the beginning of the discussion of hostilities in 2024. So far, it seems that Ukraine's allies do not want negotiations this coming winter, but they expect to help Ukraine achieve optimal negotiating positions before the US presidential election, Kommersant writes. In fact, the scheme of 2023 will be repeated, but in an improved version: by next summer, the Armed Forces of
RUSSIA Country Report September 2023 www.intellinews.com