U.S. troops may soon be sent to Eastern Europe amid heightened tensions spurred by a feared Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“I’ll be moving troops to Eastern Europe in the NATO countries in the near term,” President Joe Biden told reporters Friday after he arrived at Joint Base Andrews, returning from a visit to Pittsburgh. “Not a lot,” he added.
RUSSIA INVASION OF UKRAINE COULD RESULT IN ‘SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF CASUALTIES’
The Pentagon placed 8,500 troops on heightened alert to be prepared if NATO should activate a response force “or if other situations develop,” spokesman John Kirby told reporters Monday.
The Pentagon’s announcement came the same day that NATO agreed to deploy additional ships and fighter jets to operate as a “deterrence and defense as Russia continues its military buildup in and around Ukraine,” according to a statement. The troops would not be sent to Ukraine itself.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said he does not believe it is too late to avoid a military conflict with Russia. However, the White House warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has mobilized 100,000 troops around the Ukrainian border, could invade the country at any moment.
“We don’t believe that President Putin has made a final decision to use these forces against Ukraine,” Austin said Friday. “He clearly now has that capability.”
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Last weekend, Secretary of State Antony Blinken ordered “eligible family members” of U.S. diplomats in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, to leave the country and granted permission for “nonemergency U.S. government employees” to leave.
