Here’s what Biden has said about sending US troops to Ukraine

When he announced the first tranche of sanctions against Russia for beginning its invasion on Tuesday, Biden similarly took great care to make clear the US was not being aggressive toward Russia.

Earlier in February, Biden told NBC News he would not consider any scenario that included sending US troops to evacuate Americans in Ukraine.

“There’s not. That’s a world war when Americans and Russia start shooting at one another,” he said.

While Biden’s clarification that US troops would not become offensively involved can help avoid a conflict between the US and Russia, critics pointed out it also made clear to Russian President Vladimir Putin that his forces would face fewer obstacles in their invasion.

US troops are in countries that border Ukraine

“We want to send an unmistakable message, though, that the United States, together with our Allies, will defend every inch of NATO territory and abide by the commitments we made to NATO,” Biden said Tuesday.

He said something similar last week, in remarks from the White House, but he added clearly, “We also will not send troops in to fight in Ukraine, but we will continue to support the Ukrainian people.”

Moving troops within NATO countries

After Russia’s invasion and attack on Ukraine, CNN is reporting that the Biden administration is considering moving more US forces already in Europe to countries farther east due to the massive Russian firepower so close to allies, according to a US official familiar with the matter.

“Today we activated NATO’s defense stance that gives our military commanders more authority to move forces and to deploy forces when needed, and of course this can also be elements of the…