The US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has had telephone conversations with the Romanian and Bulgarian defense ministers about the situation in Ukraine and the issues related to NATO consolidation, a Pentagon spokesperson said. In a discussion with the Romanian defense minister Vasile Dîncu, the US official underlined the need for permanent coordination between NATO allies in connection with the events in Ukraine. The Pentagon chief welcomed Romania’s intentions to host a humanitarian aid logistics center and discussed plans for deploying a French-led multinational fighting group in Romania. Lloyd Austin also spoke with the Bulgarian defense minister Dragomir Zakov about Bulgaria’s plans to form a NATO-led multinational fighting group on its territory. (Radio Romania international)
