[ad_1]
WASHINGTON — Protection Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III has put 8,500 American troops on “excessive alert” for doable deployment to Japanese Europe, as NATO and the US braced for a doable Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Pentagon introduced on Monday.
Many of the 8,500 troops would participate in a NATO response drive 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, Protection Division officers stated, more than likely to supply assurance to American allies in Japanese Europe who’re fearful that Russia’s plans for Ukraine might lengthen to the Baltics and different international locations in NATO’s so-called jap flank.
“It’s very clear the Russians don’t have any intention proper now of de-escalating,” Mr. Kirby stated at a information convention on Monday. “What that is about, although, is reassurance to our NATO allies.”
Mr. Kirby’s announcement comes after The New York Occasions 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 Japanese Europe.
The strikes sign a serious pivot for the Biden administration, which till not too long ago was taking a restrained stance on Ukraine, out of worry of frightening Russia. However as President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has ramped up his threatening actions towards Ukraine, and talks between American and Russian officers have didn’t discourage him, the Biden administration is transferring 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 will result in a shift in U.S. army belongings a lot nearer to Russia’s doorstep, administration officers stated.
[ad_2]