US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said during his visit to Poland that there is no evidence of the withdrawal of Russian troops from the border with Ukraine. The broadcast was hosted by The Sun.
“Russia has reported that its troops are returning to their places of permanent deployment after the exercises, but in fact there are even more troops on the border. We see signs of how the troops are preparing to launch an invasion, ”Lloyd said.
The head of the Pentagon also assured that the United States remains committed to protecting its allies.
“What (Russian President Vladimir) Putin didn’t want was a strengthened NATO next to him. And this is exactly what he has today, ”said the head of the department.
He explained that America will take all necessary measures to ensure the security of NATO partners and can deploy new forces in Europe if necessary.
“Today I have nothing to announce about this, but I will also say that in everything we do, we will consult with our allies and partners to make sure that we hold the same views on the deployment of any forces,” Lloyd said at the end. meeting with his Polish colleague Mariusz Blashak.
Earlier it became known that on February 18, Lloyd Austin will hold telephone conversations with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu.
The last time Shoigu had a telephone conversation with Lloyd was on February 12. Then the parties discussed security issues of mutual interest, as well as Russia's "building up" of forces in Crimea and around Ukraine.
bbabo.Net