Mark Esper

Former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper says the United States should deploy more troops along the Black Sea in Bulgaria and Romania to deter potential aggression from Russia as tensions between Moscow and Washington heat up.

President Donald Trump on June 10 said his administration will "not even consider'' changing the name of any of the 10 Army bases that are named for Confederate Army officers. Two days earlier, Defense Secretary Mark Esper indicated that he was open to a broad discussion of such changes.

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper has urged Greece to contribute to "the international effort to protect critical infrastructure in the Gulf Region."

In a tweet, Esper praised Greece as a "close friend and ally to the US" and as one of the few members of the NATO military alliance that spends more than 2 percent of its gross domestic product on defense.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said it is "not fair" to either Turkey or the United States that Washington cannot sell Ankara billions of dollars worth of F-35 fighter jets after it bought a Russian air defense system,

US President Donald Trump's nominee to become the next secretary of defense re-stated that Turkey cannot have the F-35 advanced stealth fighter jet and Russia's S-400 air defense system, which Moscow started delivering last week.

US President Donald Trump's nominee to become the next secretary of defense called Turkey's decision to buy Russia's S-400 air defense system "disappointing," in remarks that break days of administration silence about the move by the NATO ally.

Acting US Defense Secretary Mark Esper is making it clear to Turkey that it will face economic sanctions if it goes ahead with the purchase of a Russian missile defense system.

Esper met with Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar on Wednesday during a NATO meeting. Officials say there was no progress in the stand-off between the two allies.