WASHINGTON (Sputnik), Leandra Bernstein — Military talks between the United States and Russia are valuable, but will not take place under the post-2014 US policy which cut off military-to-military talks, US Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson told Sputnik.
"I value that, but right now we are still working back to that," Richardson said on Thursday when asked about the prospects for communicating with his Russian counterpart.
In 2014, the United States unilaterally suspended military dialogue with Russia, except at the highest level.
During a Thursday speech at the New America Foundation conference, Adm. Richardson emphasized the importance of the continuing dialogue with his Chinese counterparts, to establish a "rules-based approach" to preempt the handling of possible incidents at sea.
"Good communication… is very important to prevent unanticipated or unwanted escalations," Richardson said of US-China military relations.
The United States and Russia both maintain an international presence, operating in overlapping theatres. The two nations are also engaged in combat in Syria, where they set up limited, professional communications to ensure the safety of their aircraft.
