Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work had a
chance over the weekend to meet face-to-face with a range of U.S. allies and
partners and to get their impressions of international situations that affect
them directly.
Work visited Halifax, Nova Scotia, Nov. 19-21 to participate in
the Halifax International Security Forum, hold bilateral meetings, and host a
multilateral discussion on Russian aggression and actions with North American,
European and Eurasian allies and partners.
During his
visit, the deputy secretary met separately with newly appointed Canadian
Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan, and with defense ministers from Colombia,
Georgia, Montenegro and Albania. He also met with the deputy minister and chief
of staff of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Talking with Allies
On his
way home Nov. 21, Work described his bilateral meetings and the multilateral
meeting on Russia with reporters who traveled with him to Halifax.
“Being able to talk to our allies is really
valuable, if for nothing else than to get their impressions,” Work said.
“I talk to a lot of my counterparts by
phone,” he added, “but it's not often I get to meet them in such big groups,
like all the people we had at the Russian roundtable. It was really good.”
Generally,
discussions focused on global security challenges, including collaboration on efforts
to share intelligence, NATO reassurance initiatives, the Islamic State of Iraq
and the Levant’s attacks in Paris and ongoing counter-ISIL operations ,.
Canada’s Commitment
At the
forum, Work had a first meeting with Canada’s new defense minister. The deputy
secretary expressed appreciation for Canada's support in the fight against ISIL
and their commitment to look at all options to continue to make valuable contributions
to the coalition.
“I'm
really impressed with the guy,” Work said, describing him as “very
operationally oriented.”
Sajjan
was a member of the Vancouver Police Department for 11 years, part of that time
a detective for the gang crime unit. As a regimental commander in the Canadian armed
forces he had four operational deployments; one to Bosnia and three to
Afghanistan. Several Canadian media outlets refer to him as a “badass.”
Work said he spoke with Sajjan at length
about his time in Afghanistan, and during the meeting about the thinking of
Canada’s new regime on its future contributions to the counter-ISIL coalition
and whether it will stick with its commitment to buy 65 F-35 Lightning II jet
fighters. Canada is also an industrial partner in the F-35 program.
Part
of the Coalition
“Regardless of whether or not they
ultimately decide to remove their [advise and assist] teams, they said they'll
work with us and they want to remain a big part of the coalition,” Work said.
“On the F-35, essentially I said, ‘Hey,
what is your thinking?’ because I said I wasn't here to try to put any pressure
on [Sajjan],” the deputy secretary added.
Work said the Canadians, according to a
statement by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, may have “another full and open
competition.
“I think the F-35 will be part of that,” he
added, “but the requirements from the competition may change. We don't know.”
The new regime has been in the job only for
three weeks, Work said, “so they weren't able to tell me too much, and I
wouldn't have expected them to.”
Conversations
with Counterparts
In talks during the forum with Colombian Defense Minister Luis
Carlos Villegas, Work
thanked Colombia for being one of the United States’ closest partners in Latin
America.
The
deputy secretary also pledged continued U.S. support to help Colombia consolidate
its historic peace process with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and
advance shared security objectives.
Work and Georgian
Defense Minister Tinatin Khidasheli highlighted Georgia's continued support in
Afghanistan.
“Georgia has been in the fight in
Afghanistan for the entire time. They're going to keep their people through
2016. They said that they'd be with us there as long as we're there,” the
deputy secretary said. “We're doing an awful lot of training with them and
we're considering a wide variety of different equipment requests.”
Work and
Milica Pejanovic-Djurisic, Montenegro’s defense minister, discussed the role
and importance of NATO to Montenegro, and Work expressed his support for that
nation’s application for NATO membership.
With Albanian
Defense Minister Mimi Kodheli, the deputy secretary expressed appreciation for
Albanian support to the counter-ISIL effort. And with Ukraine’s defense
minister, Vadym Prystaiko, Work addressed NATO reforms and the need for Ukraine
to plan up to NATO standards.
Ukraine Assistance
On Ukraine, Work said training is going
well and that defense authorizers said the department could have up to $300
million in fiscal year 2016 for more assistance.
“The appropriators may have to take in a
little bit of that to close the books,” he added, “but we're expecting
somewhere between $200 million and $300 million, and we're working with the
Ukrainians” to determine what they most need.
Eyes
on Russia
During the forum, senior defense officials
said that the U.S.-Russia agreement in October to protect pilots by
establishing rules that minimize the risk of air collisions over Syria has
alarmed Ukraine, Georgia and other nations in the region.
“They
just do not want us to take our eyes off Russia,” Work explained.
“They're
saying, we understand … that cooperating with Russia is necessary, but don't
forget us. So one of the things I tried to portray to them is that we will
never forget you, we're going to help you become as resilient as you possibly
can. We're going to help do training, we're going to work with you,” he added.
(Follow Cheryl Pellerin on Twitter:
@PellerinDoDNews)