Department of Defense Press Briefing by Gen. Breedlove in the Pentagon Briefing Room September 16, 2014.
The security environment has changed and has forced us, along with NATO, to re-evaluate relationships and specifically our relationship with Russia. The upside is that it also gave us an opportunity to reaffirm to each other in the alliance our steadfast commitment to mutual defense.
As I stated the last time I was here, it is indeed a momentous time in Europe. But the support of our partners and allies in Europe and NATO, we will face these challenges like we have in the past — together — and work toward our vision of a Europe whole, free and at peace.
Over the last 70 years from the Cold War, to recent operations in Kosovo and Libya, the U.S. and NATO adapted and overcame huge obstacles and challenges on our path to these successes. In the process, we individually and collectively became stronger, and collectively with our allies and partners, we will blunt and counter any aggression or threat directed at our alliance. The public can be assured that with their support we will continue to succeed.
As many of you know, I spoke at the Atlantic Council yesterday about how NATO is going to change as endorsed at our Wales Summit. If you ask me, I’ll be glad to go over those high points in discussing things you want to discuss.
Europe, despite the great work of our predecessors over the last 70 years, has become a region under tension. Russia has forcefully changed borders of several countries by violating their territorial sovereignty. Russia has illegally annexed a part of one of them, something we will never acknowledge. Russia has also used asymmetric hybrid warfare to further illicit transgressions, which is a danger to their neighbors and the safety and security of Europe.
Further, Russian claims and propaganda alike spread of false regional names that no longer exist and have no legal standing, nor international recognition, endanger not only the state that they affect, but the people who live with them — or in them, excuse me.
Additionally, Europe faces, with the United States, the prospect of foreign fighters bringing their distorted worldview and terrorist skills back to their native countries. The U.S., as the president has stated, will take active measures with coalition partners to prevent any scenario like that from playing out. U.S. European Command and nations in my AOR [area of responsibility] will play a significant role in these coalition and U.S. efforts to rid the world of this threat and the scourge of ISIL.
So that’s all I have for an opening statement, and I’m ready for your questions.
Q: General, Courtney Kube from NBC News. Can you give us an update on how many Russian troops you still see arrayed along the border with Ukraine, how many you believe are in Ukraine, and then your assessment of this almost week-and-a-half-old cease-fire. Is it holding? Is it tenuous?
GEN. BREEDLOVE: Right. So as you know, numbers are a hard thing to do. I would rather not pin down numbers. I will — I will paint a picture for you, which is that from a peak of well over 10 battalion task groups inside of Ukraine, I believe we’re now down to elements of probably four battalion task groups inside Ukraine.
The Russians have been removing forces to the east of the Ukrainian border back into Russia, but make no mistake — those forces are close enough to be quickly brought back to bear if required. They have not left the area that would allow them to be either a course of force or a force used for actual combat, if required.
Inside of Ukraine, we see forces that now are arrayed, I think, with two purposes. One purpose is to keep the flow of support and supply to the separatist forces and the Russian forces in the Luhansk and Donetsk area wide open. So those avenues of support will remain wide open, and I think that the Russian forces are arrayed to ensure that.
Secondarily, I think we see Russian forces arrayed to bring great pressure on Mariupol. So currently, there is a large force that threatens Mariupol. I think it has one of two possibilities for use. It can sit there and be a coercive force to ensure that the negotiations for peace fall out along the lines that Russia wants them to fall out, or it could also be used to take Mariupol, if it was there. But these forces are arrayed to allow them to do either.
So I think it’s important to say that, yes, some of the force structure has come down. No, none of it has departed. It is all still available. And the forces that remain inside of Ukraine are arrayed to set conditions to completely support the long-term effort of the separatists in the east and to either coerce or force the hand in Mariupol.
Q: (off-mic)
GEN. BREEDLOVE: I’m sorry. Yes, cease-fire. So I think the word you used is probably a good one. It’s tenuous. We see fighting still erupting. We see the separatists firing on positions. And I think the good news in the larger construct, it is more — much more calm than before, but clearly there are pockets of separatists that may have a different agenda.”
Source: DoD http://www.defense.gov/Transcripts/Transcript.aspx?TranscriptID=5503