Austin welcomes Stoltenberg to Pentagon

Record ID: 1675251

  • Title: Austin welcomes Stoltenberg to Pentagon
  • Date: 2nd June 2022
  • Summary: ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 2, 2022) (UNRESTRICTED POOL) WIDE SHOT OF AUSTIN MEETING WITH STOLTENBERG (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY LLOYD AUSTIN, SAYING: "Putin wanted to weaken the rules based international order but instead he galvanized the world by his actions." (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY LLOYD AUSTIN, SAYING: "I know there has been a lot of discussion about defense spending, within NATO recently so let me just say that spending 2 percent of GDP is a floor and not a ceiling" WIDE SHOT OF MEETING (SOUNDBITE) (English) NATO SECRETARY GENERAL JENS STOLTENBERG, SAYING: "Two percent is at minimum and therefore we need to make sure that we continue to make sure that NATO allies are investing more, and across Europe and Canada we have seen seven consecutive years of increased defense spending and more and more allies are meeting the two percent guideline, spending 2 percent of GDP in defense." WIDE SHOT OF MEETING
  • Embargoed: 16th June 2022 20:17
  • Keywords: Austin Biden NATO Putin Russia Stoltenberg Ukraine war
  • Location: ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES
  • City: ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,United States,Military Conflicts
  • Reuters ID: LVA002241002062022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin welcome NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to the Pentagon Thursday (June 2) as Russia tightened its grip on a key target in a battle for control of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region while President Volodymir Zelenskiy pleaded for more Western arms to help Ukraine reach a battlefield "inflection point" and prevail in the war.
    Zelenskiy told Luxembourg's parliament via videolink on Thursday that Russian forces now occupied about a fifth Ukrainian territory, with battle lines now stretching more than 1,000 km (620 miles).
    As the invasion heads for its 100th day on Friday, Russia says Washington is adding "fuel to the fire" with a new $700 million weapons package for Ukraine that will include advanced rocket systems with a range of up to 80 km.
    But separately addressing a forum in Slovakia, Zelenskiy called for more weapons supplies to "ensure an inflection point in this confrontation," in Ukraine's favor.
    U.S. President Joe Biden hopes extending Ukraine's artillery reach will help push Moscow to negotiate an end to a war in which thousands have been killed, cities and towns flattened and more than 6 million people forced to flee the country.
    His administration said it had Ukraine's assurances it would not use the rocket systems to hit targets inside Russia.
    (Production: Gershon Peaks; Deborah Lutterbeck)
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