Pentagon chief rejects Russia’s false flag warnings in Ukraine
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has rejected Russia’s warnings about Ukraine’s alleged plans to carry out a false flag operation to frame Moscow.
Austin made the statement during a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart on Monday, days after he warned that there is no one to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin from following through on his threats of using nuclear weapons.
The Pentagon chief spoke with Minister of Defense Alexey Reznikov to “reaffirm the unwavering US commitment to support Ukraine's ability to counter Russian aggression,” according to the readout of the call.
Austin “reiterated that the United States rejects the public and false allegations by Russia about Ukraine,” describing them as “a pretext for further Russian escalation of its unlawful and unjustified war against Ukraine.”
Austin said he also raised the issue with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The two officials “discussed recent diplomatic engagements with Russia” and what they called “Moscow’s false accusation that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own soil.”
Earlier this month, former US national security adviser H.R. McMaster said that the United States must take Putin’s threat of using nuclear weapons in Ukraine “seriously.”
He said that carrying out a nuclear attack by Russia in Ukraine would be a “suicide weapon,” while Moscow has advised Washington of its nuclear “red line”.
McMaster, a retired US Army lieutenant general who served as a national security adviser under former President Donald Trump, claimed that Putin’s nuclear threat is the “only quiver he has left” as the Russian leader struggles in the war.
“We ought to take it seriously,” McMaster said of the nuclear threat. “We have to, but we ought to not allow this to cow us in terms of the support for the Ukrainians.”
New York-based radio host Don DeBar said in an interview with Press TV that the statements by McMaster and other US officials suggest Washington's next move in Ukraine may be nuclear.
“Russia is not about to collapse in Ukraine, whatsoever. The US is trying to create a narrative, based on a couple of tactical retreats, that scares the life out of me, because it sounds like they intend to set off a small nuclear device in Ukraine, blame it on Moscow and use it as an excuse to make complete war on Russia,” he stated.
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