Pentagon: us military banned cooperation with Russia
WASHINGTON, December 6 — RIA Novosti. The joint work of Russia and the USA against ISIS* would require discussions at a high level, the US military is forbidden such cooperation, told RIA Novosti the representative of the Pentagon.
Earlier, the chief of the General staff of the armed forces, army General Valery Gerasimov at the annual briefing for foreign military attaches said that the Russian defense Ministry is ready to engage in dialogue with U.S. counterparts about assistance in the destruction of the insurgents in Western Iraq.
“At the moment, the scale of our discussions with the Russians at the military level, in fact, conflict prevention in the course of our operations. We are not allowed to carry out substantive cooperation with the law. So I think this kind of discussion needs to occur at the level of high authority or at the diplomatic level. Now we are forbidden from such interaction,” — said the interlocutor of the Agency, when asked to comment on Gerasimov’s statement.
Earlier, Deputy foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Moscow urged Washington to give the restriction of contacts with Russia in the military sphere. According to him, the US put forward flimsy pretexts in order not to restore full-scale cooperation in this area.
The Pentagon is also reported to RIA Novosti that “the military of the US and Russia continue to cooperate on a limited range of issues” and “maintain contact on a senior level as necessary”, “however, the defense Ministry has suspended military cooperation with the Russian armed forces after the illegal annexation of Crimea”. The defense Ministry explained that these restrictions are spelled out in the law on national defense (NDAA).
*Banned in Russia as a terrorist organization.