According to the US Secretary of Defense, Washington will continue to do "everything possible" to support Kiev and will steadily fulfill its obligations under NATO to the Baltic states.WASHINGTON, February 16.
/tass/. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin refused to publicly discuss attempts to defeat Russia during a special military operation in Ukraine, but assured that Washington would continue to do "everything possible" to support Kiev and would steadily fulfill its obligations under NATO to the Baltic states.
Speaking at a press conference in Tallinn on Wednesday, the head of the US military department was asked why it was "so difficult" to say that "Russia should lose" in its war in Ukraine. In addition, Austin was asked when this might happen.
He evaded direct answers to both of these questions. "The first thing we can do is what we are already doing: working together with allies and partners to provide Ukraine with the urgently needed military assistance it needs to succeed in defending sovereign territory," Austin said. According to his forecast, "these military actions will continue to change." "And we will do everything possible, working together to guarantee them (the Ukrainian authorities - approx. TASS) the supply of funds that are needed in order to succeed," the minister promised.
Commenting further on the "deterrence of the threat in the future" in the Baltic States, he expressed the opinion that the US's allied obligations to Estonia within the framework of the North Atlantic Alliance are unshakable. "The second part of the question, as I understood it, was whether we would be here in the event of an attack on Estonia. I will just point out what our President, President [USA Joe] Biden, has said several times and what I have also said: our commitment to Article 5 is unwavering. We take this very seriously. And we will fulfill our obligations," Austin said. He was referring to article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty signed in Washington in 1949. It enshrines the principle of collective defense of the alliance. The article provides for a collective response in the event of an "armed attack on one or more" NATO member countries.
Austin recalled that Washington has been providing a continuous presence of US Armed Forces units in Estonia on a rotational basis for several years. "We have fulfilled these obligations. And we will continue to fulfill them," the head of the US Defense Ministry said. According to him, Washington assured Tallinn before Moscow began its military operation that if Russia decides to use military force against Ukraine, the United States will deploy its "forces in Estonia the very next day." "We did it. We were here first. <...> We will fulfill our obligations in the future. So we are committed to Article 5, and you can bet on it," the minister added.
In turn, his Estonian colleague Hanno Pevkur, who took part in the press conference with Austin, said that "one of the key words here is "deterrence". "That is why NATO is preparing new regional plans, which, hopefully, will be approved at the [alliance] summit in Vilnius in July," the head of the Estonian military department said. He did not specify what exactly the mentioned plans envisage.
The NATO Summit in Vilnius is scheduled for July 11-12.
