US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin expressed concern Thursday, December 2 about the growing tensions between Moscow and Ukraine but accidentally confused Russia and the Soviet Union, which disappeared three decades ago.
At a press conference in Seoul, Lloyd Austin answered a question about the current spike in tensions between Ukraine and Russia, accused by Kiev of having massed troops on its border in preparation for an invasion (which Moscow denies).
Read also According to Kiev and Washington, Russia could attack Ukraine this winter
“
Russia has a substantial amount of forces in the border region, and we continue to be concerned about this,
” the Pentagon chief said. "
But at best we will not see a Soviet Union incursion into Ukraine,
" he added, mistakenly using the name of the former great rival of the United States during the Cold War. .
The Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991 to give birth to fifteen countries, including Russia and Ukraine.
Relations between Moscow and Washington then entered a new era, but the rise of Russian President Vladimir Putin from 2000 was accompanied by a resurgence of tensions unprecedented since the Cold War.
The head of the American diplomacy Antony Blinken was to meet Thursday in Sweden his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, a meeting dominated by the Ukrainian file.
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