US President Joe Biden said last Friday (28) that “in the short term” he will deploy US troops to Eastern Europe due to the crisis in Ukraine, but anticipated that there will not be “many”.
The president’s comments came days after the Pentagon announced that it had placed 8,500 military personnel, currently on US soil, on “high alert” for a possible deployment to allied countries in Eastern Europe.
“In the short term, I will deploy US troops to Eastern Europe and NATO countries. There won’t be many,” Biden said as he returned to Washington after visiting Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Biden did not elaborate, and his comments came hours after the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, said “Russia will withdraw and seek a resolution through diplomacy”.
Tensions have increased between Russia, the US and their allies over the deployment of 100,000 Russian troops on the Ukrainian border, raising fears of a possible Russian attack on Ukrainian territory, which Washington believes is “imminent”.
The Pentagon reiterated that it will not send troops to Ukrainian soil and insisted that, if it occurs, most soldiers who are on “high alert” will do so within NATO. The entity also did not exclude the use of military personnel who had already been deployed to bases in Europe.
#send #troops #Eastern #Europe #face #conflict #Ukraine