Kirby: Wagner threat in Europe not clear, we're watching Belarus very closely

Admiral Kirby said the U.S. government is taking note of the "provocative actions" and "bellicose, pugilistic rhetoric" out of Minsk. "We are watching what's going on in Belarus very, very closely."

"All I can tell you is were an in constant contact with our NATO allies, particularly on the eastern flank. We understand the concern. We share the concern. And the only other thing I'd say is that nothing has changed at all about our commitment to defend our NATO allies and defend every inch of NATO's territory, should it come to that," Kirby reassured.

The national security spokesperson the U.S. was "certainly in close contact with with our Polish allies who we know, this is not some rhetorical exercise for them, it's real for them". "They live with that every single day. And we respect that, we understand that. But make no mistake that that we're serious about our Article 5 commitment," he added.

Asked about potential decision to send more U.S. forces to Europe, Kirby said: "I don't have certainly any troop announcements to make today or anything like that". "As you've seen, President Biden has already increased by some 20,000 the American troop presence in NATO, particularly on the eastern flank. And he has put in place processes where we can keep that presence there for the long haul. Rotational but that they'll be able to to stay. So we're up around 100,000 troops in the European theater right now, which is the most in many, many years since the Cold War."

Asked about the movement of Wagner Group's forces, Kirby said some contingents remain deployed in Africa, some went to Belarus and some could still be in or near Ukraine.

"And it's not, it's not, clear to us what legitimate territorial threat they pose. At least in Europe, they continue to pose a significant concern on the African continent by the way, they continue to destabilize governments there, support terrorists and that kind of thing. But we're we're watching this as closely as we can," the admiral explained.

"Again, all I can tell you is we take it seriously. We listen to what coming out of Minsk. We're certainly mindful of the movement, we certainly are mindful of these recent events. But we're not, we haven't moved anything as a result. And, you know, if we need to do that, certainly we could. We take it seriously," John Kirby reassured.

On Wednesday the Lithuanian government decided to close two of the country's six border crossing points with Belarus due to "geopolitical circumstances", weeks after Russian Wagner Group mercenaries took refuge in the country.

The government did not spell out the circumstances nor threats in its reasoning for closing from Friday the two rural crossing points, which were not used by commercial vehicles.