WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III has put 8,500 American troops on “high alert” for potential deployment to Eastern Europe, as NATO and the United States braced for a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Pentagon introduced on Monday.
Most of the 8,500 troops would participate in a NATO response pressure which may quickly be activated, stated John F. Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman. The remaining personnel could be a part of a selected U.S. response to the deepening disaster, Defense Department officers stated, almost certainly to offer assurance to American allies in Eastern Europe who’re fearful that Russia’s plans for Ukraine may prolong to the Baltics and different international locations in NATO’s so-called japanese flank.
“It’s very clear the Russians have no intention right now of de-escalating,” Mr. Kirby stated at a information convention on Monday. “What this is about, though, is reassurance to our NATO allies.”
Mr. Kirby’s announcement comes after The New York Times reported on Sunday that President Biden was contemplating the deployment of a number of thousand U.S. troops, in addition to warships and plane, to NATO allies within the Baltics and Eastern Europe.
The strikes sign a serious pivot for the Biden administration, which till lately was taking a restrained stance on Ukraine, out of worry of scary Russia. But as President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has ramped up his threatening actions towards Ukraine, and talks between American and Russian officers have did not discourage him, the Biden administration is shifting away from its earlier technique.
In a gathering on Saturday at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland, senior Pentagon officers offered the president with a number of choices that may result in a shift in U.S. army belongings a lot nearer to Russia’s doorstep, administration officers stated.