“We are trying to make Russia and China partners in the international order,” the deputy secretary said. “We do not want to fight them. The key question now is asking what are their aims, what would deter them, and how do we keep from getting into a crisis?”
Robert Work made these comments during a wide-ranging and frank discussion with US European Command leaders in Stuttgart, Germany, listening to the challenges they face in the theater and how the command plans to balance them.
The deputy secretary said he particularly wanted to hear their thoughts on Eastern Europe and the situation in Ukraine.