{"id":22733,"date":"2024-05-11T08:22:17","date_gmt":"2024-05-11T05:22:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/?p=22733"},"modified":"2024-05-11T08:22:19","modified_gmt":"2024-05-11T05:22:19","slug":"us-and-german-defense-chiefs-meet-to-discuss-ukraine-war-indo-pacific-threats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/us-and-german-defense-chiefs-meet-to-discuss-ukraine-war-indo-pacific-threats\/","title":{"rendered":"US and German defense chiefs meet to discuss Ukraine war, Indo-Pacific threats"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>The United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin hosted German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius at the Pentagon in Washington on May 9, 2024, for a bilateral discussion on shared interests ranging from the war in Ukraine to operations in the Indo-Pacific region.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Defense chiefs of two NATO ally nations reaffirm their dedication to the bilateral defense relationship and their roles in the collective security of the Alliance. According to a Pentagon statement, Secretary Austin expressed his gratitude to Minister Pistorius for Germany&#8217;s dedication to Ukraine&#8217;s defense, regarding security aid and its leadership role within the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They also addressed the forthcoming NATO Summit scheduled for July and the commemoration of NATO&#8217;s 75th anniversary, underscoring the essential role of transatlantic collaboration. They stressed the importance of enhancing industrial cooperation to bolster joint defense efforts and interoperability within NATO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The two defense chiefs also emphasized the significance of unity in confronting present security challenges. Secretary Austin praised Germany for meeting the collective NATO pledge to allocate at least two percent of Gross Domestic Product to defense spending this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Today, I met with my \ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddea counterpart Boris Pistorius. German partnership in support of Ukraine and within the NATO Alliance is critical \u2013 always important to exchange views with a close Ally. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WeAreNATO?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#WeAreNATO<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/bnog80uol1\">https:\/\/t.co\/bnog80uol1<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/wxkYfPmLvb\">pic.twitter.com\/wxkYfPmLvb<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SecDef\/status\/1788714942914244630?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 9, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cGermany&#8217;s plan for a permanent brigade in Lithuania is a historic commitment to strengthen European security,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd we commend Germany for reaching our shared\u00a0NATO commitment to spend at least 2% of your GDP on defense this year. Germany remains one of our strongest and most reliable allies,\u201d Austin said following his bilateral meeting with his German counterpart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The secretary also noted Germany\u2019s deployment of troops to support security and stability in the Middle East, Africa, and the Balkans. \u201cWhether deterring the Kremlin\u2019s aggression or bolstering stability in the Indo-Pacific, our two proud democracies are in lockstep,\u201d Austin said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Minister Pistorius also noted that two German frigates recently departed for the Indo-Pacific, underscoring Germany&#8217;s focus on the region.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/US-Austin-Germany-Pistorius.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"562\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/US-Austin-Germany-Pistorius.jpg?resize=1000%2C562&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius\" class=\"wp-image-22736\" style=\"width:839px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/US-Austin-Germany-Pistorius.jpg?w=1000&amp;ssl=1 1000w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/US-Austin-Germany-Pistorius.jpg?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/US-Austin-Germany-Pistorius.jpg?resize=768%2C432&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em><sup>U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius stand for the playing of national anthems during an enhanced honor cordon and meeting hosted at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., on May 9, 2024. (Image Credit: DoD\/U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jack Sanders)<\/sup><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>&#8220;A free and peaceful Indo-Pacific is important to all of us, and we want to help promote peace and stability in that region,&#8221; Pistorius said, adding that he looks forward to Germany&#8217;s participation in the Rim of the Pacific exercise, which begins in June this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br><strong>Halting weapons supply to Israel<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While visiting Washington, the German Defense Minister hinted that Berlin is also considering replicating the actions of the U.S. in suspending further arms deliveries should Israeli forces launch a full-scale invasion into the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis is currently being discussed,\u201d Boris Pistorius said answering a question during a press briefing. Pistorius mentioned that Germany is carefully evaluating its options regarding military aid to &#8220;Israel&#8221;, with the final decision resting with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the Foreign Ministry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin hosted German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius at the Pentagon in Washington for a bilateral discussion on shared interests ranging from the war in Ukraine to operations in the Indo-Pacific region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[62,1,125],"tags":[75,6,357,92,53,377,26,5,59,27,113,7,22],"class_list":["post-22733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe","category-news","category-united-states","tag-conflict","tag-defense","tag-europe","tag-gaza","tag-germany","tag-indo-pacific","tag-israel","tag-military","tag-nato","tag-palestine","tag-security","tag-u-s","tag-ukraine"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/US-Germany-defense-chiefs-meeting.jpg?fit=690%2C370&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7jJWb-5UF","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22733"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22738,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22733\/revisions\/22738"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}