"We significantly increased our analytic effort towards Russia and really dedicated a large portion of our defense intelligence agency now to look specifically at Russia," Dunford said.
Duford underscored that the United States took its "eye off the ball" in regard to Russia. The Defense Department has only been able to meet 30 to 40 percent of each combatant commander’s commands, Dunford said.
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The official noted, citing NATO Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, that there were no adequate resources to keep an eye on Russia. He added that the shortfall is due to balancing the global demand which has shifted to North Korea.
Earlier this year, the Defense Department in its national security strategy said Russia was considered a major threat to US and NATO. Moscow has repeatedly called the US-NATO aggressive military buildup near Russia’s borders as nothing but a provocation.