Today's D Brief: Historic arms deal for France; Ukraine's Russian forecast; Shutdown averted; New Florida military?; And a bit more.
By Ben Watson and Jennifer Hlad
December 3, 2021 11:13 AM ET
The D Brief
Kyiv’s defense chief thinks Russia could invade Ukraine again sometime near the end of January, Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov told parliamentarians today in the capital. “Our intelligence analyzes all scenarios, including the worst,” Reznikov said, according to Reuters. “It notes that the likelihood of a large-scale escalation from Russia exists. The most likely time to reach readiness for an escalation will be the end of January,” Reznikov said, and later added, “We must make the price of escalation unacceptable for the aggressor.”
Russia’s reax: “It's nonsense, there is not any escalation. We have the right to move the troops on our territory,” Kremlin official Yury Ushakov told reporters Friday when asked about Reznikov’s prediction.
SecDef Austin’s Soviet slip of the tongue. When it comes to possible U.S. responses to new Russian military activity inside Ukraine’s border, “Whatever we do will be done as a part of an international community,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said to reporters during a trip to South Korea on Thursday. “The best case, though, is that we won’t see an incursion by the Soviet Union into the Ukraine.”
https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2021/12/the-d-brief-december-03-2021/187267/
