Congressman Claims US, Russia Should Boost Counterterrorism Cooperation

The United States should take steps to boost cooperation with Russia in countering terrorism, US House Committee on Armed Services ranking member Adam Smith told Sputnik on the sidelines of the Defense Forum in Washington, DC.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Smith stated that there is a number of areas where the two powers could have a prolific cooperation.

"Counterterrorism I think is one of the biggest [areas for cooperation], also nuclear proliferation, North Korea — there are a lot of areas where we have things in common," Smith said on Wednesday.

The congressman noted that the current level of counterterrorism cooperation between Washington and Moscow "could be a lot better than it is."

During his speech at the forum, congressmen urged cooperation with Russia and China, the two major powers that can become US partners in addressing existing threats.

"I would love to figure out some way to work better with China and Russia," Smith said. "It is going to be a challenge, but it beats having to fight them, and it also hopefully gives us partners that can match some of these other threats."

Relations between Russia and the West soured in 2014 after the overwhelming majority of the Crimean population voted in a referendum to leave Ukraine and rejoin Russia. The United States and the European Union, who do not recognize the results of the referendum, imposed several rounds of sanctions on both Russia and Crimea.