USA: Pentagon "cannot rule out" military evacuation of US citizens from Ukraine - spox

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Mandatory credit: US Department of Defense

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby has stated that the Department of Defence ‘cannot rule out’ military evacuation of US citizens from Ukraine, as tensions between the country and neighbouring Russia remain high, during a press conference in Arlington, Virginia, on Wednesday.

Kirby stressed that a ‘very small number of troops’ are currently deploying in the region, with many in fact ‘re-deploying’ after having already been in Europe for an extended period of time as part of the NATO programme.

The US and the West have warned that Russia is planning to invade Ukraine amid a troop build-up on the regions around the Russia-Ukraine border. Moscow has repeatedly dismissed the accusations as ‘disinformation.’

SOT, John Kirby, Pentagon Press Secretary: “This is a very small number of troops that are quote unquote, ‘deploying,’ and quite a few of them are actually just re-deploying inside Europe and [let me remind you] that we have 80,000 other troops in Europe. So, the additions that we’re making, while the Secretary deems them necessary to reassure the Eastern Flank of NATO, they are but a small fraction of the total number of troops that we have in Europe and have been there, again, as part of our NATO commitments for a long time.”

SOT, John Kirby, Pentagon Press Secretary: “There are no active efforts in play to militarily evacuate American citizens from Ukraine. The State Department has been exceedingly consistent and clear about warning Americans away from traveling to Ukraine. And the President himself just the other day advised Americans to leave Ukraine, given the current tensions. So, there’s been plenty of time and opportunity, and it’s not a war zone. I mean, there’s plenty of physical opportunities to remove yourself from Ukraine. Including commercial air, railroads, good highways, there’s lots of ways to leave. And all that is still at play right now. And again, we’ve said from the very get go, there’s no effort right now ongoing, nothing that we’re expecting to use military assets to move Americans out of Ukraine, that’s the same today.”

SOT, John Kirby, Pentagon Press Secretary: “When the Secretary decided to send leading elements of the 82nd Airborne which we talked about very publicly, we said from the very get go that one of the reasons why we chose that unit is they’re multi-mission, and they’re on a high-alert readiness posture as it is. That’s their job, that’s what they do. And they do a lot of things really, really well. And they can do those things quickly. And we said, and the Secretary said, and as a matter of fact, when he was up at this very podium, that they are multi-mission capable, and they’re going to be ready to do a number of contingencies. Including, and he was asked, you know, would that include evacuation? And he said, if that’s what we’re called to do, we’re capable to do that. So I can’t rule out the fact that these soldiers could be used to some degree with evacuation assistance on the other side of that border. And certainly, they’re going to be prepared to do that.”

SOT, John Kirby, Pentagon Press Secretary: “If Americans that are in Ukraine, heed the warnings that they have gotten from the State Department and from the President himself. There should be no need for the 82nd Airborne to have to assist with evacuation and assist in evacuation missions if Americans that are in Ukraine are paying close attention to the warnings and the advisories that they’ve gotten and do the right thing, while there’s time to do it.”

SOT, John Kirby, Pentagon Press Secretary: “We believe there’s still time and space for diplomacy. We still believe that there’s headspace with Mr Putin that can be operated inside of. We still believe that he hasn’t made a final decision. And so, a lot of what we’re doing, not just what we’re doing but how we’re talking about what we’re doing, is designed to make it very clear where the United States national security interests are and what we’re trying to achieve here. In a nutshell, what we’re trying to achieve here is a de-escalation of the tensions, and a diplomatic path forward. And virtually everything that we’ve done, everything I’ve said up here, and quite frankly, everything I’ve not said up here, is designed to help us get to a better outcome. A peaceful outcome, a diplomatic outcome. Nobody wants to see, except with the exception of possibly Mr Putin, any military conflict breaking out in Europe.”

#US #Ukraine #Russia #UkraineCrisis

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