Page 778 - Capability News Today

Allies and deter and defend against any aggression. now, as the secretary said friday, we do not know if russia has made a final decision to further invade ukraine. but it clearly has that capability. the department of defense will continue to support diplomatic efforts, led by the white house and the state department to press for resolution. we do not believe conflict is inevitable. the united states in lockstep with our allies and partners, has offered russia a path to de-escalate. but we will...

To crimea and along ukraines border, including in belarus. it has progressed at a consistent and steady pace involving tens of thousands of russian troops. and it is being supported by increased russian naval activity in the northern atlantic and the mediterranean sea. we dont believe that president putin has made a final decision to use these forces against ukraine. he clearly now has that capability. and there are multiple options available to him, including the seizure of cities and significa...

[muffled audio]. that come from troops on the eastern flank of europe. from took place already in europe. have any units in europe been given prepare to deploy orders? >> many of the rotational troops are already on a heightened posture, david. i believe that general walters is taking prudent steps to make sure if we need to move forces from inside europe to other places in europe, in allied territory, he is ready to do that. the prepare to deploy orders i spoke about the other day were confined...

Moving the striker squadron from germany to romania. there could be other movements inside europe, intra-theater moves, that we would speak to. were not ruling that out and were not ruling out the possibility that additional forces from the united states could deploy to europe. all we can speak to today are the troops that weve announced, and as decisions get made, if theres a need, as i said in my opening, were constantly looking at the conditions there. if we believe the conditions warrant, if...

They reinforce each other and its part of an integrated campaign that vladimir putin can be engaged in. so far we have not seen any destructive attacks against u.s. infrastructure. what we have seen in other parts, pages from their playbook is the disinformation. we saw that in the 2016 elections here where russia mounted a disinformation campaign against our democracy. and weve -- we know they are capable of far more, including ransomware attacks, attacks that can destroy our economy. what we h...

The restaurants are full and open, the stores. when ive spoken to ukrainians, i ask how is that. they say theyre aware of the forces on the border for sure but they feel what happens next is out of their control. from the u.s. perspective, russia has the capability to do it as soon as this week. they dont know what they will, but they can. >> jim, some confusing, maybe revealing comments this morning from a ukrainian diplomat about ukraines involvement in nato. explain this. >> reporter: so this...

Scary. the fact that u.s. officials tell cnn that putin assembled a way to describe it, 70% of the forces russia would need to mount a full scale invasion of ukraine and everyone still saying they dont know if putin has made up his mind, what his real intention is. what do you make of this intelligence assessment? >> i think the intelligence assessment is based on capabilities. and certainly, russia and the russian forces there had that capability. its another thing though to actually do that. h...

I think you saw president biden and the chancellor making an effort today to say, yes, we are on the same page. but this raises questions about how on the same page. >> the administration walked back some of its language about an invasion of ukraine being imminent in the recent days. did president biden say where he thinks president putins head is. >> he thinks he has the capability to do is invasion if he wants to. it doesnt seem the white house is going to intercept any intelligence showing hi...

Range, not simply focusing on ukraine. if this could be a shell game, he could be focused on something else. he could do pieces of ukraine and not the whole thing. i think hes got the initiative, hes got the momentum and were reacting in a purely defensive capability here. >> the issue of ukraines potential possible membership in nato is at the center of this because russia has made it so. its not on the table today. it is in ukraines constitution, as you know, to keep that path open. you did ha...

And we owe you a debt. thank you. we are also aided by the essential partnership of the syrian democratic forces. i want to commend her dedicated intelligence community, department of success, and members of a national security team throughout the government whose meticulous and tireless work over the course of many months ensured that this mission succeeded. this operation is a testament to americas reach and capability to take out terrorist threats matter where they try to hide anywhere in the...