Lloyd Austin blames Putin for Ukraine’s missile hit in Poland

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has blamed Russian President Vladimir Putting for the deadly missile strike in Poland that was fired by Ukrainian forces, claiming the strike was the fallout of Putin’s “war of choice” against Kiev.

“The tragic and troubling explosion in Poland this week reminded the whole world of the recklessness of Putin’s war of choice,” Austin claimed on Saturday as quoted in an AP report while addressing the annual Halifax International Security Forum, a gathering of Western military officials, insisting that international stability and prosperity are at stake in the conflict.

“Make no mistake: we will not be dragged into Putin’s war of choice, but we will stand by Ukraine as it fights to defend itself, and we will defend every inch of NATO territory,” Austin further vowed while insisting that the US-led military alliance that has taken part in numerous wars of intervention across the globe is a “defensive” alliance and poses no threat to Russia.

“Stability and prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic are at stake,” the American military chief then proclaimed, adding: “The US trading relationship with the European Union is the largest in the world. So when an aggressor manufactures a huge security crisis in Europe, it hits home for everyday Americans and Canadians.”

Austin went on to concede that the American military has deployed or extended more than 20,000 additional US forces to Europe since last February, bringing the total to more than 100,000 American soldiers across the continent.

Austin’s anti-Russia claims came just days after NATO’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed US-based reports that the missile that struck a grain-drying facility in a Polish village near the Ukrainian border had likely been fired by Kiev’s forces.

Speaking in Brussels following talks among NATO members on Wednesday, Stoltenberg said an ongoing probe into the missile hit found "that the incident was likely caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile fired to defend Ukrainian territory against Russian cruise missile attacks."

ME