President Joe Biden has deployed thousands more U.S. troops to European allies following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, though he maintained those forces will not actually be engaging with Russian troops.
Roughly 7,000 service members were deployed to Germany “to reassure NATO allies, deter Russian aggression, and be prepared to support a range of other requirements in the region,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters Thursday afternoon, around the time Biden announced increased sanctions against Russian leaders.
The Pentagon said the troops come from the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Georgia.
“Our forces are not and will not be engaged in the conflict with Russia in Ukraine. Our forces are not going to Europe to fight in Ukraine but to defend our NATO allies and reassure those allies in the east,” Biden said during his remarks.
He acknowledged they would be “involved” if Russia was to cross into any NATO countries.
“This would comprise an armored brigade combat team with associated capabilities and enablers,” a senior defense official said in a statement. “They will deploy to Germany to reassure NATO allies, deter Russian aggression, and be prepared to support a range of requirements in the region. We expect them to depart in the coming days.”
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This is the latest in a series of troop movements announced in recent weeks. The United States normally has more than 80,000 troops stationed in Europe while Biden’s latest deployments bring that total up to roughly 12,000 more in recent weeks. Another 2,000 have moved from within Europe.
Russia’s military is “making a move on Kyiv,” and “they have every intention of basically decapitating the government and installing their own method of governance,” a senior defense official told reporters. The official also described Russia’s military offensive as the biggest conventional warfare move since World War II.
The official said there have been “in total more than 160 missiles for airstrikes” in the time since Russia launched its military incursion.
