WASHINGTON, January 16. /TASS/. The Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller has professional respect for Russia's actions in the military sector, he told reporters en route to Washington, according to a transcript released by press service of the US Department of Defense on Friday.

"Russian? I have professional respect for how they do things," he said. "I think they’ve played a really bad hand of card very, very well," the Pentagon chief added speaking about the economic situation in Russia.

"Professionally <…> they’re doing pretty well, and they’re using a lot of irregular warfare concepts, information," he said.

Miller also stressed that the US has "to come out of the mindset of the Cold War."

The US authorities drafted the first in a decade new national defense strategy under Donald Trump administration, which was made public on January 19, 2018. The then Secretary of Defense James Mattis said earlier that the new strategy is focused on a long-term strategic competition with Russia and China.