US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will pay a working visit to Belgium, Poland and Lithuania. This was announced on Monday, February 14, by Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.
According to him, Austin will fly to Europe on February 15.
“Tomorrow Secretary of Defense Austin is going on an overseas trip to meet with military and government leaders in Belgium, Poland and Lithuania,” Kirby said.
The spokesman stressed that Lloyd Austin will first go to Brussels, after which he intends to meet with the leaders and defense ministers of Poland and Lithuania. In addition, he will visit the US military at a military base in Poland.
Kirby specified that one of the main topics of discussion during the foreign trip of the head of the Pentagon will be “building up the military presence around Ukraine.”
Earlier Monday, State Department spokesman Ned Price said the White House had so far seen no real signs of de-escalation from Russia.
On the same day, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov noted that now there are no prerequisites for a full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukrainian territory.
On February 13, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said that in the event of a Russian military “invasion,” US military personnel would not fight in Ukraine. He stressed that the conflict around Ukraine can still be prevented, but time is running out.
The United States and a number of European countries have recently expressed concern over the alleged increase in Russia’s aggressive actions against Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly denied such accusations, saying that it does not threaten anyone. Such statements are used as a pretext to place as much NATO military equipment as possible near the borders of the Russian Federation, they say in Russia.
On February 12, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in a conversation with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, said that the propaganda campaign launched by the United States and its allies about “Russian aggression” against Ukraine pursues provocative goals.
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
