Austin held a press conference at the Pentagon with US Chief of Staff General Charles Brown. The meeting discussed the incident of four Chinese and Russian warplanes intervening in international airspace off the coast of Alaska. Austin stated that this incident was not a surprise and emphasized that developments in the region were constantly being followed.
Austin made a remarkable observation regarding the activities of Russian and Chinese warplanes, saying, “I won’t discuss intelligence issues here, but this is the first time we’ve seen these two countries flying together.” He also stated that the Russian and Chinese planes did not enter US and Canadian airspace, but approached within 300 kilometers of the border, and emphasized that they were ready to intervene.
When asked whether Russia and China were testing the United States at a time when US President Joe Biden was withdrawing his candidacy, Austin replied, “They test us all the time, and it’s no surprise to any of us.”
