"I believe we should maintain military to military communication adn relationships in the worst of times. We did it throughout the Cold War, we should do it now," Gen. Dunford said in a speech at the Center for Strategic International Studies.
Dunford noted that he has spoken with his Russian counterpart, Russian Chief of the General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov "three times" and described it as a "professional dialogue."
The United States unilaterally cut off military all but the highest level diplomatic and military contacts with Russia in 2014, following western accusations that Russia had interfered in the internal affairs of Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly denied the accusations and called for reopening military to military contacts in particular.