U.S. foreign policy strategy should be aimed at deterring Russia - Atlantic Council

According to an Ukrinform correspondent, the report outlines the areas of U.S. foreign policy towards Russia in the years and decades to come.

"The list of Kremlin provocations is long and includes military action notably in Georgia and Ukraine and changing borders by force, relentless and ongoing cyberattacks, electoral interference in the United States and numerous other democratic countries, assassinations abroad, disinformation campaigns, coup attempts, and efforts to buck up dictators," the report said, adding that there is also evidence that Moscow is likely behind some of the directed energy attacks on U.S. officials that produce the Havana Syndrome.

According to the authors, Russian President Vladimir Putin "presides over these active measures and malign activities in his quest to destabilize the international order."

At the same time, in the short and medium term, the United States should seek areas of cooperation where U.S. and Russian interests may overlap: arms control, counterterrorism in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, reduced military confrontations, and an effective response to climate change.

In the longer term, the authors of the report "describe in clear terms the cooperative relationship that would emerge with a prosperous, powerful Russia that plays a constructive role in the rules-based international order."

The first element of the strategy is the need to strengthen "work with allies and partners to counter immediate danger from Moscow."

U.S. allies and partners should understand the danger coming from Moscow and work together to counter it. The United States needs to strengthen NATO's defense and deterrence posture, both conventional and nuclear, enhance the already significant presence on NATO's northeastern flank, and establish a "comprehensive Black Sea Strategy."

The second element of the strategy is to thwart Kremlin aggression and provocations against U.S. interests and the international liberal order. The United States must "establish clear redlines as a deterrent and be prepared to act swiftly when Moscow threatens or crosses them."

"Ukraine is the current center of Moscow's revisionist foreign policy and needs the self-defense capabilities to deter further aggression. Frustrating Kremlin aggression in Ukraine reduces the risk of Kremlin provocations against the United States' Eastern European NATO allies and may well prove the key to persuading it to change policy course," the report said.

Thus, the U.S. policy response should involve military, economic, and diplomatic tools. It should encourage Ukraine's military to become completely interoperable with NATO, increase U.S. military aid to Ukraine to $1 billion per year and encourage additional assistance from other NATO members, and make Ukraine's defense a NATO objective.

It is also proposed to provide Ukraine with anti-ship missiles, naval drones, and air defense systems. At the same time, the report stresses the need to maintain and strengthen the current sanctions regime, and maintain public attention on Moscow's occupation of Crimea, the Donbas, and Georgia.

According to the authors of the report, the United States should take a more active role in the Minsk peace process and consult with the parties to ensure that "Ukraine is not pressured to make undue concessions to Moscow."

The document also proposes "uncovering and publicizing in English and Russian information about the corruption of the Russian regime and order US intelligence to establish the financial holdings of Putin, top Kremlin officials, and Putin cronies in the West." The appropriate classified information on this should be declassified, published, and publicized in English and Russian.

In addition, the report said, it is necessary to "enact and enforce strong and transparent laws against money laundering and other hidden channels, including requirements for shell companies to disclose beneficial owners, that corrupt Putin cronies and Kremlin-associated actors use to further Russian state interests or their own."

At the same time, the United States should make clear that the United States looks forward to a closer, mutually beneficial partnership with a democratic Russia that respects the sovereignty of its neighbors, the authors said.

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