Former California Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday stated: “I think it is stupid for Democrats to be attacking Putin on all issues and not holding open the channel of nuclear dialogue.”

His comments were made at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Doomsday Clock unveiling at the National Press Club. Brown is executive chair of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

He continued: “Yes, deal with the issues in Syria, and killing diplomats, and Ukraine, and Crimea and all the rest of that, but that doesn’t warrant a nuclear blunder that kills billions of people, or millions. So yes, whether you’re a Democrat, a Republican, or somewhere in between, we need to have dialogue. And something that might help is a bit of humility. Yes, the Russians have plenty of faults, and sins I might even say, but we too have to look in the mirror and see ourselves, and we’re not perfect. So, in an imperfect world with imperfect human beings, the only path forward is dialogue. Dialogue about the most important threat facing humanity. So yes, knock it off guys, and ladies. Let’s talk to Putin. Let’s talk to anybody else who can do the kind of damage that you’re hearing about from this panel of nuclear scientists.” [See video]

STEPHEN F. COHEN, sfc1 at nyu.edu, and via Caitlin Graf, caitlin at thenation.com

Available for a very limited number of interviews, Cohen is professor emeritus at New York University and Princeton University. He is author of the just-released book War with Russia? From Putin and Ukraine to Trump and Russiagate. His recent pieces include “Anti-Trump Frenzy Threatens to End Superpower Diplomacy” and “The End of Russia’s ‘Democratic Illusions’ About America” for The Nation.

Brown made his comments in response to a question about Russiagate posed by Sam Husseini, contributing writer to The Nation and senior analyst at the Institute for Public Accuracy.