Russia has responded fiercely to recent remarks from Pete Hegseth, who emphasized the need for the United States to ‘prepare for war’ in response to escalating tensions in Europe.
Defense Secretary Hegseth addressed the issue during a speech at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia earlier this week, where he issued a stark warning to the American public.
“From this moment forward, the only mission of the newly restored Department of War is this: Warfighting,” he stated, stressing the importance of being “unrelenting and uncompromising” in their preparations. He clarified that the goal was not war itself, but the desire for peace.
Following these comments, Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin responded, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov informing reporters on Wednesday (October 1) that Russia is also focused on strengthening its armed forces while remaining proponents of peaceful resolutions, including the Ukrainian crisis, through diplomatic means.
In his speech, Hegseth also took a stand against ‘woke’ culture within the US military, emphasizing the need for physical fitness and appropriate appearance among troops.
“It’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon leading commands around the country, in the world, it’s a bad look,” Hegseth asserted.
He further commented, “It all starts with physical fitness and appearance. If the Secretary of War can do regular, hard PT [physical training], so can every member of our joint force.”
“Today at my direction, every member of the joint force, at every rank, is required … [to] meet height and weight requirements twice a year, every year,” he announced.
Hegseth concluded with a blunt message: “No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses, no more climate change worship, no more division, distraction or gender delusion, no more debris. I’ve said before and will say again, we are done with that s***.”
Earlier this year, Donald Trump announced plans to revert the name of the Department of Defense back to the Department of War, a change that harks back nearly eight decades.
When asked by a reporter about the process of renaming the Defense Department, Trump stated: “We’re just going to do it. I’m sure Congress will go along if we need that … Defense is too defensive. We want to be defensive, but we want to be offensive, too, if we have to be.”
He added: “You know, we call it the Department of Defense, but between us, I think we’re going to change the name. You want to know the truth. I think we’re going to have some information on that, may be soon.”