Pentagon Chief Ashton Carter, who is retiring, said that the possibility of the Russian and US military cooperation will be greatly reduced. It is reported by Bloomberg.
“I do see areas where we can cooperate, but they are getting narrower and narrower over time,” Carter said in an interview Tuesday. “That’s the trajectory Russia has been on” because “that common ground to work on has been reduced over the last 10 years progressively. That’s just the fact of where we find ourselves now.”
Among the remaining options for cooperation with Russia Carter called blocking North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and preventing Iran from having one. Days before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to seek improved relations with Putin, Carter said that option is “still possible”.
Ashton Carter will leave the post of Minister of Defense on January 20. His place will be given to General James Mattis, who was proposed by the president-elect Donald Trump.
Earlier, Carter spoke about the possibility of recovery of the US military and the Russian co-operation in the spirit of the 1990s.