WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US departments of State and Defense should actively engage Russian and Chinese counterparts and establish lines of communication, US Strategic Command (STRATCOM) commander Gen. John Hyten said in a congressional testimony on Tuesday.
"I would like to have an aggressive State Department engagement, an aggressive Department of Defense engagement," Hyten told the US Senate Armed Services Committee. "That includes mil-to-mil engagements with my counterparts in Russia, China in particular."
Hyten suggested that "it is always better to be able to pick up the phone and talk to somebody before something bad really happens."
At present, the US and Russian militaries have set up a communications channel to deconflict operations in Syria.
