Russia holds nuclear exercises at a time of acute tension over Ukraine
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has warned that Russia preparing to strike Ukraine following a massive military buildup that has stoked the biggest East-West crisis since the Cold War.
Austin said that Russia has been building its capabilities in and around Ukraine and in Belarus for months. Those forces “are uncoiling and are now poised to strike,” he said.
During a news conference n Vilnius, Lithuania, Austin said that the United States stands with our allies. “As I made clear in Brussels this week, we take our obligations to NATO and to our allies seriously. Our commitment to Article 5 is ironclad.”
He shared that the United States has deployed a 4,000-soldier infantry brigade combat team from the 82nd Airborne Division to Poland. A Stryker squadron from the 2nd Cavalry has taken 1,000 U.S. soldiers to Romania. Another Stryker company is moving to Bulgaria and still another is deploying to Hungary. Additionally, 8,500 U.S. service members are on heightened alert if the NATO Rapid Response Force is activated by the North Atlantic Council.
“The United States — in lockstep with our allies and partners — has offered him another opportunity to pursue a diplomatic solution,” Austin said. “We hope that he takes it. We hope that he steps back from the brink of conflict. We hope he de-escalates.”
With fears of war rising in Europe, the White House said U.S President Joe Biden’s national security team told him they still believed Russia could launch an attack in Ukraine “at any time”.
The G7 group said that they remain “gravely concerned” about the situation as they see no evidence of Russia reducing its military activity in the area.
Meanwhile, Russian leader Vladimir Putin observed strategic nuclear exercises involving the launch of hypersonic ballistic missiles and other weapons on Saturday. The nuclear drills come at a time of acute tension with the West over Ukraine. The drills involved launches from warships, submarines and warplanes. Two ballistic missiles were launched hitting targets thousands of miles away in the far east peninsula of Kamchatka during the exercise. However, the Kremlin has said the exercises are part of a regular training process and denied they signal an escalation of the standoff.
