Wednesday, December 29, 2021, 7:18 p.m.
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US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has decided to “keep” Europeans in the midst of tensions with Russia, to keep in the Mediterranean a aircraft carrier that was to start a mission in the Gulf, the Pentagon announced on Tuesday, notes AFP.
“The Secretary of Defense has ordered the USS Harry S. Truman Naval Air Group to remain in the European Command (EUCOM) operations area instead of going to the Central Command (CENTCOM) operations area as planned,” he told AFP. head of the Pentagon, on condition of anonymity.
Not to mention the tensions around Ukraine, where Kiev and its Western allies accuse Moscow of massaging tens of thousands of soldiers at the country’s border in anticipation of a possible invasion, the Pentagon official stressed that this change of itinerary “reflects the need for a continued presence in Europe”.
“We need to reaffirm our commitment to our collective defense alongside our allies and partners,” she added.
The USS Harry Truman and his air force arrived in the Mediterranean Sea on December 14 for the Gulf Region via the Suez Canal.
Russia and the United States have agreed to hold talks on January 10 on Ukraine and security in Europe, followed two days later by a NATO-Russia meeting, followed by a round of talks at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe ( OSCE), set up during the Cold War to promote East-West dialogue.
