Pentagon Chief Rejects Military Cooperation With Russia

One day after Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told US NATO allies they will have to pay up and meet their mandatory quota of 2% of GDP (which only 5 nations currently satisfy, among them the US and Greece), on Thursday the Pentagon’s new chief also had some bad news for Russia when he rejected any kind of military collaboration with Russia, despite previous calls by Putin for the West to work with his country on Syria and other issues.
Quoted by the WSJ, Mattis said at NATO’s Brussels headquarters that ‘We are not in a position right now to collaborate on a military level’ adding that ‘our political leaders will engage and try to find common ground or a way forward where Russia, living up to its commitments, will return to a partnership of sorts, here with NATO.’ Prior to the meeting, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu expressed hope for cooperation but warned that ‘attempts to build a dialogue from a position of strength with regard to Russia are hopeless.’
Mattis’s remarks came after Mr. Putin made a plea for the alliance and other nations to cooperate with Russia. ‘It’s in everyone’s interest to resume dialogue between the intelligence agencies of the United States and other members of NATO,’ said Mr. Putin, addressing Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) on Thursday.

This post was published at Zero Hedge on Feb 16, 2017.