Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III answers questions during a press conference in Manila, Philippines, Feb. 2, 2023. In his first public remarks about the leak of sensitive military information online, Austin said he’s making every effort to assess the damage and minimize the impact on the war in Ukraine. (Chad McNeeley/Department of Defense)
WASHINGTON — In his first public remarks about the leak of sensitive military information online, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Tuesday he’s making every effort to assess the damage and minimize the impact on the war in Ukraine.
Austin made the comments during a joint news conference with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their Philippine counterparts following the first 2+2 ministerial meeting between the two countries in several years.
Austin underscored the importance of getting to the bottom of how and why the documents were posted online. They purportedly contain information about Ukrainian troops and weapons during the conflict with Russia.
The first photographs of the documents were posted to Twitter and Telegram last week. Additional sensitive materials were found a couple of days later.
“We will continue to work closely with our outstanding allies and partners, and nothing will ever stop us from keeping America secure,” Austin said during a news conference following the ministerial meeting.
The Pentagon has said it’s working to mitigate damage from the documents, but it hasn’t said yet whether all the records posted online are authentic. A spokesperson said this week that some appear to be “altered” and some appear to contain classified information.
Philippines Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said during the news conference the leak does nothing to harm U.S.-Philippines relations.
The United States seized the country from Spain in the Spanish-American War in 1898 and controlled the islands until full independence in 1946.
“I really don’t want to jump to any speculation or jump to any conclusions at this stage,” Manalo said. “We have full confidence in the investigation.”
“Just let me say that we are confident of the strength of our relationship and our growing partnership,” he added.
During the ministerial meeting, the leaders said the U.S. and Philippines agreed to new steps to bolster mutual defense, expand intelligence sharing and carry out joint sails in the South China Sea. They also discussed interoperability involving four new U.S. military sites in the Philippines that were announced in recent weeks. Two are just across the sea from Taiwan, which is a sore spot for China because it considers the island a breakaway territory.
“We all reaffirmed today that our mutual defense treaty remains the bedrock of our cooperation,” Austin said, emphasizing that the pact would apply to any attack on U.S. or Philippine forces in the South China Sea.
The meeting came as the United States and Philippines kicked off their largest military exercises in three decades. The Balikatan exercises will involve more than 12,000 American troops and almost 5,500 Filipino troops, and include live-fire missile launches, urban and aviation operations, boat-sinking and counterterrorism drills and humanitarian assistance, officials said.
Balikatan, which means “shoulder to shoulder” in Tagalog, will run until April 28.
