International affairs

Pentagon Still Sees 'Great Many Barriers' to Restore Military Ties With Russia

Legal and practical considerations hamper the normalization of military-to-military relations between the United States and Russia, US Department of Defense spokesperson Jeff Davis said in a briefing on Friday.

"We have legal considerations and practical considerations," Davis said. "Legally, we have got NDAA [National Defense Authorization Act] limits to the amount of cooperation we can do, and from a practical matter… there are still great many barriers to us being able to have a closer relationship with them militarily."

On Thursday, Dunford met with the head of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov in Baku, Azerbaijan, to discuss military relations and ways to avoid crises.