US Secretary of Defence Lioyd Austin said his country will not hesitate to join the Russian, Ukraine conflict, if Russian attacks Estonia. Mr. Austin who was speaking Thursday during a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, Belgium said US troops are already on standby in Estonia. “You know, I’ll just point to what our president, President Biden, has said a number of times and what I’ve also said. Our commitment to Article 5 is ironclad. And we take that very seriously and will live up to our commitments,” Austin told the press.
Article 5 of NATO’s Washington Treaty is known as “the principle of collective defence.” It obliges all member countries to come to the aid of another member whose sovereignty or territorial integrity might be under threat. The defense secretary explained that the US military has maintained a comprehensive presence within the Baltics since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “We also set up, you know, back at Madrid, our president made the decision to rotate forces in and out of the Baltics on a consistent basis in a heel-to-toe fashion so that we had the, you know, consistent presence. We’ve lived up to that. We’ll continue to live up to it,” Austin said.
Austin touted this level of military presence as a promise kept, stating that similar promises of military support would be kept if necessary. “And the final thing I would just point out to you is that prior to Russia’s invasion, you know, I met with your minister of defense and I told him that if Russia invaded Ukraine, we would deploy forces to Estonia the next day. And we did. We were the first to be here and we meant every word we said. And we’ll live up to our commitments going forward. So we are committed to Article 5. And you can bet on it.”
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