Protection Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III will journey to Belgium, Poland and Lithuania this week to debate Russia’s navy buildup round Ukraine with leaders in every nation, the Pentagon introduced on Monday.
Mr. Austin will go away on Tuesday for Brussels, the place he’ll seek the advice of with NATO leaders, earlier than touring to Poland to go to American troops and to Lithuania to satisfy with Baltic leaders, mentioned John F. Kirby, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman.
Russian reinforcements proceed to circulation in with no proof that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia is veering away from navy motion in Ukraine, Mr. Kirby advised reporters on the Pentagon. “He’s doing all of the stuff you would anticipate him to do to verify he’s prepared for that possibility or choices,” Mr. Kirby mentioned.
Mr. Kirby dismissed Russian assertions that the buildup of some 130,000 troops was merely seasonal land and naval drills. “It strains credulity to assume that they might have this many troops arrayed alongside the border with Ukraine and in Belarus merely for winter workout routines,” he mentioned.
The Pentagon on Friday ordered 3,000 further troops to Poland, bringing to five,000 the variety of reinforcements despatched to Europe prior to now two weeks.
The aim of the troops, practically all from the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C., might be to reassure NATO allies that whereas america doesn’t intend to ship troops into Ukraine, President Biden would shield America’s NATO allies from any Russian aggression. Poland borders Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, an in depth ally of Russia.
Additionally on Monday, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Employees, and Lt. Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, the commander in chief of Ukraine’s navy, mentioned the “safety setting in Japanese Europe” throughout a cellphone name, the Joint Employees mentioned in a press release.
“Ukraine is a key associate to NATO and performs a vital function in sustaining peace and stability in Europe,” it mentioned.