"Putin is failing on the battlefield" he said earlier at NATO HQ
"He is responding w/more indiscriminate attacks on Ukrainian cities, against civilians & against critical infrastructure & w/dangerous nuclear rhetoric"
"Missiles fired by Russian warships in the Black Sea have hit Ukrainian towns & for months, Russian forces blocked Ukrainian ports, causing the worst global food crisis in years..."
"We urge Russia to renew the UN grain deal brokered by Turkey and ensure the continued supply of food to those who need it most" per @NATO's @jensstoltenberg
"Wars are by nature unpredictable. But what we have seen over the last weeks and months is actually that the #Ukrainians have made significant gains" per @NATO's @jensstoltenberg
"I will not speculate about how long the war will last. I will only say two things " per @NATO's @jensstoltenberg
"One is that we are ready to support #Ukraine for as long as it takes..."
"The 2nd message is that most wars ends at the negotiating table" per @NATO's @jensstoltenberg
"At the same time we know that what #Ukraine can achieve at the negotiating table is totally dependent on the strength on the battlefield"
New US National Defense Strategy sticking with "by, with, and through" to take on terrorists/violent extremists...
"In #Africa, [@DeptofDefense] will prioritize disrupting VEO threats against the US homeland & vital US national interests, working “by, with, and through” our African partners" per the NDS
"... continuing our “by, with, and through” approach in #Iraq and #Syria"
#ISIS, #alQaida & affiliates, generally, "have had their capabilities degraded, but some may be able to reconstitute them in short order, which will require monitoring indications & warning against the
VEO threat" per the 2022 Nat'l Defense Strategy
"The most comprehensive & serious challenge to US national security is the PRC’s coercive & increasingly aggressive endeavor to refashion the Indo-Pacific region & the int'l system to suit its interests & authoritarian preferences"
#China "seeks to undermine US alliances &
security partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region, and leverage its growing capabilities...to coerce its neighbors & threaten their interests" per US NDS
#China's "increasingly provocative rhetoric & coercive activity towards #Taiwan...part of a broader pattern of destabilizing & coercive PRC behavior that stretches across the #EastChinaSea, the #SouthChina Sea, & along the Line of Actual Control" per US NDS
NEW: Lessened threat from #Russia - "Russia is absolutely deterred from attacking @NATO" per a senior US defense official, briefing reporters on the National Defense Strategy
More: "President Biden has stated unequivocally that we will defend every inch of @NATO territory & it is very clear to us here in the Pentagon that #Russia has received that message" per the senior US defense official
US facing a challenge from the dual threats of a nuclear #China & a nuclear #Russia
"It cannot be a solution where if China has a thousand [nukes] & Russia has a thousand, that we need 2 thousand bcs that is an arms race nobody should want to be in" per sr US defense official
Main message to #China#Russia#DPRK#Iran, others - "The cost of aggression against the #UnitedStates or our allies and partners far outweigh any conceivable gains" per @SecDef
.@DHSgov providing intelligence to election officials, plus training & resources - "We're really a critical partner" for state & local election officials, per @SecMayorkas