US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will make a working trip to Europe in February to meet with NATO allies amid the situation around Ukraine and negotiations with Russia. This was announced on Twitter by the correspondent of the Voice of America radio station (the organization is included in the list of foreign agents by the Ministry of Justice) Carla Babb, citing Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.
Defense Secretary Austin will travel to Europe later this month to meet with NATO allies amid friction with Russia over Ukraine.
In addition, the head of the Pentagon will take part in a meeting of NATO defense ministers on February 16-17, she specified.
In mid-December last year, the Russian Foreign Ministry published security agreements for the US and NATO. They took into account the concerns of the parties, in particular on the situation in Ukraine. Russia's main conditions are that NATO will not move east and will deny Ukraine membership in the alliance.
The Russian diplomats sent the documents to their partners and recently received a response. In it, as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted, "there was no positive response" to Moscow's basic demands. After negotiations with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, he confirmed his thesis that it is unacceptable to strengthen one's security at the expense of the security of others. And this principle, according to him, Western countries try not to remember.
On February 1, talks were also held between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. At a press conference following the meeting, Putin touched on the topic of security guarantees. He stressed that nowhere is it indicated that NATO adheres to the "open door" policy. He recalled that the 1949 treaty only stated that the military-political bloc could accept the country into its ranks. “Maybe, but not obliged,” the Russian president stressed.
bbabo.Net