The Trump administration should confront Russia where necessary to do so but cooperate wherever possible, according to former NATO Supreme Commander and retired Admiral James Stavridis.
Speaking on “The Cats Roundtable” Sunday radio talk show on AM 970 in New York hosted by John Catsimatidis, Stavridis said, "It would be a good thing if the United States could develop a better relationship with Russia. There are going to places where we have to confront Russia… We ought to keep our eyes open …we ought to recognize [Russian President Valdimir] Putin will push hard around the edges of NATO…. But there are many zones of cooperation with Russia, including counter-narcotics, counter-terrorism, counter-piracy, the Arctic, arms control, trade, science, diplomacy.”
Stavridis said that although Trump and Putin do not really know one another, they "understand each other and their approaches” and he believes the foreign policy and security team which Trump has assembled is very experienced and will give the president good advice.
The admiral said one major area of immediate concern is cyber warfare, because "cyber is the big equalizer,” in terms of the ability of other nations to attack U.S.
Another area to worry about, Stavridis said, is concerning relations with China, which "are not off to a good start." He said the first indications are that the Trump administration has a confrontational attitude towards Beijing, “and what we really don’t want is an open conflict with China.”
Stavridis added that one area that does not get talked about enough but is very important for the U.S. is Latin America, which is an up-and-coming region with great potential.
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