Biden formally approves new US troops to Europe amid Russia threat, deployments
The deployments to Eastern Europe, which were first reported by CNN, are a show of support to NATO allies feeling threatened by Russia’s military moves near Ukraine and the threat of an invasion, US officials said.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the deployments included roughly 2,000 troops that would deploy from the United States to Poland and Germany. In addition, approximately 1,000 troops currently based in Germany were moving to Romania.
Kirby said that the moves, which would happen in the coming days, were not permanent and emphasized, “These forces are not going to fight in Ukraine.”
The move is the most significant sign to date that the US is preparing for the prospect of Russian President Vladimir Putin launching an invasion of Ukraine, as Russia has shown no signs of de-escalating after several rounds of diplomatic talks with the US and NATO.
Biden signed off on the additional troops following a meeting on Tuesday morning at the White House with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, an official said.
Biden told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Wednesday that the decision was “totally consistent” with what the US has told Russia throughout discussions.
“It’s totally consistent with what I told Putin in the beginning,” Biden said in a brief exchange in the White House East Room. “As long as he’s acting aggressively, we’re going to make sure we reassure our NATO allies and Eastern Europe we’re there and Article V is a sacred obligation.”
“I used that once. I think others have used that once. And then we stopped using it because I think it sent a message that we weren’t intending to send, which was that we knew President Putin had made a decision,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.
Last week, Psaki said an invasion by Russian troops of Ukraine continued to be “imminent,” a description that drew anger in Kyiv. Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, disagreed, arguing the descriptions could cause panic and economic turmoil.
More US troops could be deployed
Kirby stressed these additional troop movements don’t mean the US believes Putin has decided to invade Ukraine or any other country, but “if he does invade Ukraine, obviously there’s going to be consequences for that.”
“We want to make sure that he knows any move on NATO is going to be resisted, and it’s going to trigger Article Five, and we’re going to be committed to the defense of our allies,” Kirby said.
Last week, the US placed 8,500 troops in the US on heightened alert in case a NATO Response Force is called up and US forces are needed quickly. But the US and NATO have tens of thousands of other troops already in Europe to draw on for any additional deployments to Eastern European allies.
Kirby said that the troops being deployed were separate from the 8,500 US troops on heightened alert. The Pentagon is “not ruling out the possibility that there will be more” US troop movements in the coming…
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