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The U.S. Defense Secretary’s itinerary to Eastern Europe was bound to anger Moscow, which announced it was shuttering its NATO mission and kicking NATO diplomats out of Moscow.
“We don’t have proper conditions for basic diplomatic activities,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Moscow blames NATO for not being interested in “equal dialogue or joint efforts to defuse military-political tension.” The decision comes after NATO expelled eight diplomats from Russia’s mission earlier this month, saying they were working as undeclared intelligence officers.
En route to NATO this week, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Georgia and Ukraine, two NATO aspirant Black Sea neighbors that the Russian military invaded and continue to partly occupy.
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U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, right, and Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Taran share a word as they attend a welcome ceremony ahead of their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. (Gleb Garanich/Pool Photo via AP)
“The United States condemns Russia’s ongoing occupation of Georgia and its attempts to expand influence in the Black Sea region through military coercion and malign activities,” said Austin in Tbilisi, before signing a defense security pact with Georgia. Next the Secretary assured Ukrainians they can count on the United States’ continued support “that includes Ukraine’s aspirations to join NATO” if it carries out certain reforms.
The former Deputy Secretary General of NATO – Alexander Vershbow, who served as U.S. Ambassador to both NATO and Russia, says Ukraine remains the biggest flashpoint.
“The Russians under Putin like to be unpredictable. They don’t seem to care one bit about stability if it gets in the way of trying to dominate their neighbors,” says Vershbow, adding that Moscow’s decision to suspend its NATO mission could have been influenced by Austin’s visit. Georgia and Ukraine are “the targets…
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Source : foxnews
