NBC: US soldiers sent to Hungary due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict
The United States is expected to announce soon that 200 US troops and armoured vehicles will be sent to Hungary, as NBC News reported.
According to Hvg, US President Joe Biden said on Friday evening that he is convinced that Russia will launch an attack on Ukraine within days. As the US newspaper NBC News wrote, the US is expected to announce soon that 200 US troops and Stryker armoured personnel carriers will be sent to Hungary in the coming days.
As we can read in 168.hu’s article, NBC claims that the information comes from US military officials who have not yet been authorised to make official statements.
In connection with the case, Hvg also contacted the Ministry of Defence, where they said,
“Every year there are domestic and international exercises, joint training and preparation in Hungary, for which soldiers from NATO member states arrive in Hungary. This year there will be several such events as well.”
On top of that, the Ministry of Defence brought to the attention of Hvg their earlier report about the international exercise in Újdörögd, where 130 US soldiers will arrive with 40 combat vehicles from the US forces stationed in Europe and Africa at the end of February and beginning of March.
Source: Facebook.com/szijjarto.peter.official
Two weeks ago, on 5 February, Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs, said:
“There are NATO soldiers in Hungary: the Hungarian Defence Forces. They are a NATO unit. The Hungarian Defence Forces are in the right condition to defend the country, so there is no need for external troops.”
Additionally, Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, Commander of the Hungarian Defence Forces, said the same thing: the Hungarian armed forces are capable of defending the country, and ready to do so.
However, according to Hvg, Biden also said in an earlier statement that it is not too late to return to the negotiating table and seek a diplomatic solution to the conflict. It was also stated that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov next week – if Russia does not launch an attack by then, that is.
Source: hvg.hu, 168.hu, honvedelem.hu, index.hu