US relations with Russia have entered a period of “uncertainty” because Moscow appears determined to sow discord within Europe and undermine US influence, NATO’s top commander warned on Tuesday.
“The relationship with Russia is likely to be more difficult to manage in coming years than any time since the end of the Cold War,” General John Craddock told a congressional hearing in written testimony.
Citing Russia’s military action supporting breakaway regions in Georgia last August and disputes over gas supplies to Europe in January, Craddock wrote that Moscow’s actions “suggest that their overall intent may be to weaken European solidarity and systematically reduce US influence.”
The stark warning comes as US President Barack Obama’s administration seeks to reduce tensions with Russia, suggesting possible concessions missile defense plans in Central Europe in exchange for Moscow’s support on diplomacy over Iran’s nuclear program.
Obama is due to meet Russian President Dmitry Medvedev for the first time at the G20 summit in London on April 2.
Craddock, who also serves as head of US European command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Russia had adopted a “newly assertive posture” toward its neighbors and European states reliant on Russian energy.
“We are in a time of uncertainty in the US-Russian relationship brought about by disagreements over European security, Russia’s role in what it regards as its neighborhood, and Russia’s decision to send forces into Georgia and to recognize the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia,” Craddock wrote.
The refusal of other neighboring countries to back Russia’s recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia reflected “regional unease over a revanchist Russia,” he said.
The US military sought “a pragmatic military-to-military relationship” and hoped that talks with Russian counterparts would resume soon, he said.
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