US Strategy Should Engage Russia, Avoid War - Former NATO Commander

former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Jim Jones said that Nato and Russia must continue to work toward preventing war.

 

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US strategy towards Russia must be based on continued engagement and avoiding a major conflict, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Jim Jones told Sputnik on Friday.

“We should continue to engage, we should continue to have off-ramps, we should continue to work toward that goal, but it’s disappointing where things stand,” Jones said of the future US strategy toward Russia.

Jones explained that the outlook of the United States and its allies “is not just about getting ready for a war, it’s really about preventing war.”

To achieve that objective, Jones emphasized the need for the US to work together with its Transatlantic allies “in the neighborhood” of Russia, and show increasing resolve against what he described as Russia’s unsatisfactory behavior.

Jones, who also served as National Security Advisor during US President Obama’s first two years in office, acknowledged the period of improved relations during the US-Russian “reset” in 2009, which he characterized as “very satisfying.”

Tensions between the United States and Russia have been heightened in the past year over issues relating to the conflict in Ukraine, and a number of diplomatic and military channels of communication between the countries have also been shut down. The United States and its allies have implemented a series of economic sanctions against Russia alleging its involvement in the Ukrainian conflict, charges that Russia has repeatedly denied.