Austin says no-fly zone means ‘you’re at war with Russia’
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Thursday that the US has not changed its position on the introduction of a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
“Introducing a no-fly zone actually means you are in combat, you are at war with Russia,” Austin said at a joint press conference with Slovak Defense Minister Jaro Nad.
“And that’s one of the things we talked about, our president said we weren’t going to get into a fight with Russia,” he continued. “So, this actually means that in order to control the sky, you have to disable the air defenses there on the ground. And some of these air defense systems are in Russia, and so, again, there is no simple or easy way to do this.”
Austin says that attacking civilians is a “crime”:
Asked about the increased attacks by Russian troops on Ukrainian population centers, Austin said the recent attacks “appear to have been directed directly at civilians” but refrained from calling these actions war crimes.
“If you intentionally attack civilians, you deliberately attack civilians… that is a crime,” Austin said, urging Putin to stop. “We were all appalled by the brutality we continue to witness day after day.”
The process of reviewing this issue is ongoing in the US State Department.
.@SecDef: I pay tribute to Slovakia for its contribution to @NATOfor the humanitarian and military assistance you have offered to Ukraine and for the generosity you have shown to innocent refugees fleeing Putin’s chosen war. pic.twitter.com/aw5lsmCFY4
— Ministry of Defense 🇺🇸 (@DeptofDefense) March 17, 2022
Slovakia is ready to supply S-300 to Ukraine:
Nad said Slovakia was ready to provide Ukraine with S-300 systems “when we have a proper replacement” as it would leave a hole in his country’s defenses.
“The only strategic air defense system we have in Slovakia is the S-300 system,” Nad said. “So, when we decide to give it to the Ukrainians, what will happen is that we will actually create a security hole in NATO.”
He added that discussions are underway about the deployment of such defensive weapons.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (left) and Slovak Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad hold a joint press conference at the Slovak Ministry of Defense in Bratislava March 17. VLADIMIR SIMICEK/Getty Images