"We should pay attention to the so-called BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa)," Hill, who works as a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, told the US Senate Armed Services Committee.
Hill noted the recent joint military exercise involving South Africa, Russia and China, claiming that South Africa being part of such drills is "not acceptable," and that "other countries should not be doing that too,
Hill emphasized that Russia is trying to create its own alliances and is one of the few close partners of China.
"Russia has emphasized a great deal in terms of partnership building in Middle East, for example, and the parts of East Asia, Latin and South America, trying to revitalize old Soviet ties," Hill said.
The deepening of Russia’s already close relations with Iran is also a problem, Hill claimed.
US Actions Make Other States Switch to Trade in National Currencies: Russia's FM
deas of different countries to increase mutual trade in national currencies have recently been actively discussed due to unpredictable actions of the United States, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov opined on Wednesday.
"Not by chance there have been discussions about the transition to national currencies. Who knows which US president and on which side of the bed will get up and who will appear unattractive to him in the morning," Lavrov said.
The Russian top diplomat noted that Brazil had already proposed discussions on trade in national currencies within the BRICS group, which could develop a "global approach" to financing in times when the US breaks "all laws of decency."