Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Friday that NATO should reconsider its relationship with Russia in light of its incursion into Ukraine, which should bury the idea that the end of the Cold War brought permanent peace to Europe. "Russia's actions in Ukraine shatter that myth and usher in bracing new realities," AP cited Hagel as saying in a speech that captured the Obama administration's deepening concern that decades of effort to draw Russia closer to the West may be failing. Hagel made no mention of boosting American troop levels in Europe; his focus was on how NATO can become better prepared to deal with a security landscape that is being reshaped by Russia's annexation of Crimea and its moves in eastern Ukraine. Tensions in Ukraine escalated further. Two Ukrainian helicopters were shot down as the interim government in Kiev launched its first major offensive against an insurgency that has seized government buildings across eastern Ukraine. The Kremlin said Kiev's military move against the insurgents "destroyed" the two-week-old Geneva agreement on cooling Ukraine's crisis. In a speech at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, Hagel expressed satisfaction with the way European allies have responded to Russian actions in Ukraine. "But over the long term," he said, "we should expect Russia to test our alliance's purpose, stamina and commitment." He called this a "clarifying moment" for a NATO alliance that had grown used to the idea of a benign Russia to its east. In remarks at the White House, visiting Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel said the "post-Cold War order has been put in question" by Russia's aggressive moves. Asked later whether Hagel believes Russia is an enemy of the U.S., his press secretary, Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, said the nature of the relationship is up to Russia, since its actions are chiefly responsible for the destabilizing of eastern Ukraine. "There is no reason for us to consider Russia an enemy unless Russia wants to declare itself one, and I can tell you the path they are taking in Ukraine is certainly not going in the right direction," Kirby said. On Thursday, NATO's second-ranking official, Alexander Vershbow, an American, said Russia has compelled the alliance to begin viewing it as an adversary. -- SPA 22:13 LOCAL TIME 19:13 GMT تغريد
