Shoygu: U.S. plans to conduct relations with Russia from a position of strength are futile
Attempts to establish relations with Russia from a position of power are futile, Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoygu said on February 16. Currently, he added, Moscow is ready to restore cooperation with the Pentagon.
Shoygu's comments come in reply to those made by new US Secretary of Defense James Mattis. “ We remain open to the possibility of restoring cooperation with Moscow. At the same time we are realistic in our expectations and will make every effort for our diplomats to conduct negotiations [with Russia] from a position of strength,” Mattis said at a NATO defense ministerial meeting in Brussels on 15 February.
The Chief of General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, General Valery Gerasimov, and the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, plan to meet in Baku on February 16. Sergey Shoygu expects, that at the meeting the Pentagon representative will clarify his remarks about the US plans to conduct dialog with Russia from a position of strength. But the main topic of the talks will be "the state and prospects of military cooperation between Russia and the US, as well as the prevention of incidents connected to the military activities of the parties,” Interfax reported, referring to the Defense Ministry’s information department.