Romania briefs the Pentagon on France’s efforts to stand up a NATO battle group at the mouth of the Danube
On Monday, the head of the US Military called his Romanian counterpart to coordinate “humanitarian and security”The Pentagon confirmed that it will provide assistance to Ukraine as well as an update about the NATO Battle Group France has set up in the area right across from the Ukrainian border.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called Romanian Defense Ministry Vasile Dincu Monday morning “continue coordinating our assistance”In a reading of the conversation, the Pentagon stated that Ukraine was its target. Both “shared a sense of urgency ahead of a likely Russian military offensive in eastern Ukraine,”The Pentagon stated.
Austin thanked Romania for accepting Ukrainian refugees. “received an update on the formation of a French-led NATO multinational battle group”The country was ranked as the highest, according to the study.
France committed to sending troops to Estonia, Romania, and other countries on February 26, six days after Ukraine’s conflict escalated. Florence Parly, Defense Minister, visited the contingent at Mihail Kogalniceanu (a Romanian military station northwest of Constanta), on March 6.
On March 23, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had spoken of “four new NATO battle groups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia,”Eight total “from the Baltic to the Black Sea.”Since then, the alliance has been a success. saidThe Franco-Belgian battalion in Romania that was deployed continues to combine exercises with US, Polish and Italian troops. “strengthen interoperability.”
The US and its allies also appear to have Romania as a significant conduit for the weapons they are sending to Ukraine. Russian forces claimed on Saturday that they had downed a Ukrainian plane in Odessa. “delivering a large shipment of arms supplied to Ukraine by Western counties.”
Austin’s call with Dincu comes just days after the Pentagon announced it would send Ukraine hundreds of obsolete armored vehicles, humvees, anti-tank, and anti-aircraft missiles, as well as 18 towed guns with 40,000 rounds of ammunition and several tactical radars.
Russia attacked the neighboring state in late February, following Ukraine’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. French and German diplomats brokered the protocols to ensure that the region was granted special status by the Ukrainian state.
Since then, the Kremlin demanded Ukraine declare itself neutral and vow to never join NATO’s military bloc. Kiev claims that the Russian invasion was unprovoked. It also denies any plans to take the republics with force.
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