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Transcript/ScriptUS – Austin - Europe
HEADLINE: US Defense Secretary in Brussels for High Stakes NATO Talks
TEASER: More than 100,000 Russian troops placed on Ukraine’s borders
PUBLISHED: 2/15/2022, 8:44 pm
BYLINE: Carla Babb
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Brussels
VIDEOGRAPHER:
VIDEO EDITOR: Bakhtiyar Zamanov
SCRIPT EDITORS: AP, MAS, djones
VIDEO SOURCE (S):
PLATFORMS: WEB TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 1:49
VID APPROVED BY: Holly Franko
TYPE:
EDITOR NOTES: there is a WEB piece to accompany TV // needs balance read ))
((ANCHOR))
[[With Russia poised to invade Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is in Belgium for two days of talks with NATO leadership and allied defense ministers. Tens of thousands of Russian troops surrounded Ukraine from the north, south and east. VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb has more from Brussels.]]
((NARRATOR))
((Courtesy Russia Defense Ministry))
A potentially imminent invasion from a familiar foe. 150,000 Russian troops amassed on Ukraine’s borders, the territorial integrity of one of NATO’s eastern neighbors at stake.
((Retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, Former U.S. Army Europe Commander)) ((SKYPE))
“I think of a boa constrictor that is squeezing Ukraine to force the government of President (Volodymyr) Zelensky to blink, to make some giant concession.”
((Austin arrival in Brussels //replace tomorrow AM with NATO spray))
At NATO, defense leaders showing a unified alliance this week with meetings focused on deterring Russia.
((Bradley Bowman, Foundation for Defense of Democracies))
“This really is a decisive moment for NATO, the likes of which we have not really seen potentially sense NATO was established in 1949.”
((NARRATOR)) ((Courtesy Department of Defense))
U.S. fighter jets ready to monitor the skies on NATO’s eastern flank. An American aircraft carrier in the Adriatic Sea for the first time in decades. Thousands of additional U.S. troops deployed to Poland and Romania.
All as Russian legislators Tuesday urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to formally recognize the separatist-controlled regions of eastern Ukraine as independent states, a move Putin could use to try to justify an incursion in an area it no longer recognizes as Ukraine’s territory.
But U.S. President Joe Biden warned Tuesday of severe economic and political consequences should Russia invade Ukraine.
((President Joe Biden))
“It will be met with overwhelming international condemnation. The world will not forget that Russia chose needless death and destruction. Invading Ukraine will prove to be a self-inflicted wound.”
((NARRATOR))
((Courtesy Russia Defense Ministry))
Russia now says it is pulling back troops from Ukraine’s border, although the president said the U.S. could not yet confirm Moscow’s claim.
Carla Babb, VOA News, Brussels
NewsML Media TopicsConflict, War and Peace, Politics, Arts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateFebruary 15, 2022 21:46 EST
BylineCarla Babb
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
