Ash Carter: Russia sowing seeds of global instability

Defense Secretary Ash Carter will spend the first leg of his worldwide journey this week in London, traveling Wednesday morning to Oxford University to deliver a speech about the “special relationship” in a post-Brexit world. “That has contributed to what President [Barack] Obama this weekend called the “gaps of trust” that exist between our two countries”.

Later at a news conference in London, Carter said that Kerry would not be making another try with Lavrov if there were no prospect for success.

Carter’s remarks follow hacking attacks on Democratic Party organisations in the run-up to the U.S. election on November 8, some of which United States officials and cyber security experts have blamed on hackers working for the Russian government.

“Today’s news out of Syria is not encouraging”. “Also make no mistake, we will defend our allies”.

He cites progress the countries made together in the aftermath of the Cold War, but says Russian Federation now “appears driven by misguided ambition and misplaced fear”. Both Russia and the US are now attempting to negotiate a ceasefire in the country.

On Wednesday, Carter said that despite the exit vote, the USA continues to view the U.K.as a key ally and partner in security operations in places like Iraq.

“They are still a unsafe adversary, and a lasting defeat will take time, but we will not let up until ISIL is defeated”, said Carter, using an alternate acronym for the Islamic State. When the war against the Islamic State is over, “collectively we will remember who failed to show up for the fight”. “And we will not ignore attempts to interfere with our democratic processes”.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper suggested Wednesday that Russian Federation was behind the hacks carried out against the Democratic Party.

“The United States does not seek a cold war, let alone a hot war with Russian Federation”, he said.

Asked whether he had been referring specifically to the USA presidential election, he said: “It’s not a concern in the United States only; it’s a common concern” throughout Europe.

“The United States is already the largest contributor to those operations, but a year ago the president made some additional commitments on behalf of the United States, some of which are the Department of Defense’s to carry out”, he told reporters.