• Defense Secretary Ash Carter will travel to Germany, Estonia, and Belgium June 21 – 26 for a series of bilateral and multilateral meetings with European defense ministers and to participate in his first NATO Ministerial as secretary of defense.
• In this important month for the alliance, Carter will hear directly from ministers, defense leaders, and service members about the progress we have made since the Wales Summit to address the new security environment, including the challenges from Russia and NATO’s southern front, and discuss what we must do in the future to enhance the effectiveness of the alliance.

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LUXEMBOURG: The European Union on Monday extended economic sanctions against Russia until January to keep pressure on Moscow over the conflict in eastern Ukraine, drawing a rebuke and a warning of retaliation from Russian officials.

An EU statement said the decision was taken without debate by the bloc’s foreign ministers at a meeting in Luxembourg, in response to “Russia’s destabilizing role in eastern Ukraine.”

The sanctions, along with U.S. and other Western measures against Russia, have contributed to a softening of the Russian economy at a time when the price of oil that is crucial to its economic output also has fallen. The sanctions have also put a pinch on some of Russia’s key EU trading partners.

Then Putin decides to moderate and cooperate?

From IB Times: Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that Moscow is not averse to economic co-operation with the West despite the sanctions imposed on it over the Ukraine crisis. Mr Putin was addressing the Economic forum in St Petersburg and said Russia’s economy has adapted itself to face the pressures of sanctions. Significantly, Mr Putin avoided the usual anti-Western rhetoric, observers noted.

“The imposition of so-called sanctions has forced us to significantly step up efforts to replace imports with domestic products. We have made serious steps and achieved noticeable results in a number of areas”, said Mr Putin and claimed that economy has “stabilised” and its financial and banking systems are now attuned to the new conditions. He also stressed Russia’s desire to remain a key player in the world economy and desire to work with the west as well as other countries. Noting that Russia is open to the world, Mr Putin said active co-operation with new centres of global growth, implying China, it no way means that “we intend to pay less attention to our dialogue with our traditional Western partners.”

Secretary of Defense Carter, DoD and NATO step up offensive objectives.

WASHINGTON, June 22, 2015 – The challenges to NATO from Russia and on the alliance’s southern flank will be the focus of Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s trip to the continent this week.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter talks with news reporters aboard an aircraft June 21, 2015, en route to Berlin. Carter plans to meet with European defense ministers and participate in his first NATO ministerial as defense secretary during the trip to Germany, Estonia and Belgium. DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Adrian Cadiz   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.

Carter arrived in Berlin yesterday for talks with the German defense minister. From Germany, he will travel to Estonia and then end his trip at the NATO defense ministerial in Brussels.

Yesterday, the secretary spoke to reporters traveling with him.

NATO is Changing

The secretary said NATO must, and is, changing to confront the new threats. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggressive behavior in Georgia and Ukraine must be countered, and further aggression must be deterred, he said.

The secretary said he’ll explain America’s “strong but balanced approach” to dealing with Russia.

“It’s strong, in the sense that we are cognizant of the needs to deter and be prepared to respond to Russian aggression, if it occurs, around the world, but also especially in NATO and with NATO,” Carter told reporters.

NATO is countering Russian behavior with the Spearhead Force designed to move quickly and powerfully to the scene of an incident, the secretary said.

“Another part of that is helping the states, both NATO members and non-NATO members, at the periphery of Russia … to harden themselves to malign influence or destabilization of the kind that Russia has fomented in eastern Ukraine,” he said.

Adapting to Challenges

The balance comes from needing to work with Russia on other issues, Carter said. Russia is a part of the P5-plus-1 talks with Iran. Russia also has a role in countering terrorism.

In short, Russia’s interests do in some areas align with those of the rest of the world, the secretary said.

“The United States, at least, continues to hold out the prospect that Russia — maybe not under Vladimir Putin, but maybe some time in the future — will return to a forward-moving course rather than a backward-looking course,” Carter said.

Southern Europe is threatened by extremism, the secretary said, noting that NATO defense ministers will discuss this threat. The dangers of extremism in the Middle East, he said, is manifested by increasing streams of refugees seeking to escape ungoverned or poorly governed areas of North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.

“In both of those areas NATO needs to, and is, adapting,” Carter said. “These are challenges that are different in kind from the old Fulda Gap, Cold War challenge. They are different in their own ways from Afghanistan and the kinds of things that we’ve been doing there. So it’s new, but NATO … is adapting for both of them.”