Breedlove: NATO, Russia need to “engage”

The US and NATO need to find a way to engage Russia? and press that country to “rejoin a community of norms that does not believe in changing international boundaries by force,” said Gen. Philip Breedlove, commander of US European Command and NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe. Russia has vast energy reserves and a sprawling transportation infrastructure that Europe uses to help its economy grow. However, the NATO countries and Russia need to talk at a high level to find common ground so they can work toward a peaceful and prosperous Europe, Breedlove said at the German Marshall Fund of the United States in Washington, D.C., on Monday. Breedlove’s comments come the same day President Obama met face-to-face with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the United Nations in New York. “We recognize the deep and complex history between Russia and Ukraine, but we cannot stand by when the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a nation is flagrantly violated,” Obama told the UN General Assembly. “If that happens without consequence in Ukraine, it could happen to any nation gathered here today. That’s the basis of the sanctions that the United States and our partners impose on Russia. It’s not a desire to return to a Cold War.” (Obama transcript.)