WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Carter is visiting Berlin in an attempt to strengthen bilateral US-German ties, and will next fly to Estonia to attend the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence and then attend the regular NATO Defense Ministerial meeting.
“[The US government] will continue to cooperate with Russia when it [Russia] is willing. This includes the P5+1 negotiations with Iran, nonproliferation more generally, counter-terrorism — countering ISIL-like [Islamic State] movements.”
The Defense Secretary noted the United States would “continue to hold out the possibility that Russia will assume the role of respected partner moving forward, not isolated and going backward as it is today.”
He also acknowledged that US-Russia strategic cooperation was vital to international stability.
“Much of the progress we've made together since the end of the Cold War, we accomplished with Russia. Let me repeat that. Not in spite of Russia, not against Russia, not without Russia, but with it.”
