certainly we have had advisers and trainers there since 2014 as the chairman indicated earlier. and we remain focused on providing all of the assistance in terms of training and advising that ukraine feels it needs. and we work that issue with them on a consistent basis. i would also say that it s all it s less about the specific number, but about more about the capability that you bring and what you re focusing on. in some cases, it may take several more types of trainers to do to train on a specific event or skill. in other cases, less so. so rest assured that we are in constant communication with canada and the uk and everyone that s providing assistance to ukraine at this point in time.
correspondent oren liebermann. we re about to hear from the defense secretary, lloyd austin, joint chiefs of staff chairman general mark milloy. what are we expecting from them? the last time we heard from defense secretary austin as well as general milley was on september 1st. after the withdrawal of afghanistan. it says something about the seriousness and significance of the moment we ll be hearing from both of these two leaders. we re not expecting any major announcements in terms of deployments. we re not expecting an activation of the 8,500 u.s. troops that have been given the heightened alert or an announcement that troops within europe are moving. of course, that could change as we anticipate hearing from these two in a moment. but we haven t been led to believe that s what we re expecting. that being said, the pentagon has made it clear the first option here is always diplomacy. we expect that both austin and
his decisions will take him. but we remain concerned about the range of options that he could pursue and we ll stay focused on this problem set. and i ll turn to the chairman there for his thoughts. in terms of the size of the forces that are amassed right now, they could. i mean, it s potntial. we don t think there s been a decision as the secretary already made. but, sure, with 100,000 troops and you ve got combined arms formations, ground maneuver, artillery, rockets, air and all the other parts that go with it, there s a potential that they could launch on very, very little warning. that s possible. and there s a wide scale of options that are available to russian leadership. and the best option they should pick in my view is a diplomatic solution to resolve whatever differences they have. in terms of how this feels, your second part of the question, as we look at that
93 squadrons, four carriers, many more surface combtants. the military capability of nato is very, very significant. in addition to bordering belarus and moldova, ukraine has a border with four nato members. poland, slovakia, hungary and romania. the president and the secretary of defense have authorized the united states military to increase our readiness in the event we have to reinforce or assist our nato allies. war is not inevitable as the secretary said. the right answer here is a diplomatic solution. i look forward to your questions. thanks, chairman. we ll turn to questions now. we ll start with lita. thank you both for doing this. mr. secretary, and first, can
against one is an attack against all. and i thought that was a really important statement for the secretary and the chairman to affirm. he is getting more attention right now. that is putin. but in terms of his calculations, general clark, so far, putin s actions have actually sparked a boost in nato troops and arms in russia s backyard. he s basically provided justification for nato to expand further, should it desire so. isn t that his worst nightmare? did putin orverplay his hand? it absolutely is. his worst option is nato stays united and countries there continue to seek nato protection and then nato has to give them more forces and more support. all of the nato enlargement began in the nin1990s for one reason. it wasn t nato s region. these countries came to nato and