Austin calls Putin's nuclear saber rattling 'reckless and irresponsible'

The United States considers Russian President Vladimir Putin's nuclear saber rattling to be "reckless and irresponsible" and is watching the situation closely.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said this at a press conference in Brussels on Wednesday, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"We take this very seriously. And this is something we remain focused on. We continue to watch indications and any type of warning that he [Putin] may have made a decision to go in a different direction," Austin said.

He added that the United States had "not seen any indications at this point that would lead us to believe that." However, he said, it's not something you can look at once and leave alone.

"This is something we remain focused on 24 hours a day, seven days a week," Austin said.

The sixth meeting of the U.S.-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group took place in Brussels on Wednesday. It was attended by representatives of about 50 countries.

Photo: Chad J. McNeeley, DoD