Washington: US President Joe Biden has said that his decision to deploy several thousand more troops to Europe over the Ukraine crisis is “totally consistent” with that he has told Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Earlier in the day, the US Defence Department announced the extra US forces will deploy to Poland, Germany and Romania in the next several days. Biden said that his order is “totally consistent” with that he has told Putin since the beginning, according to the White House.
“As long as he’s acting aggressively, we are going to make sure we reassure our NATO allies in Eastern Europe that we’re there and Article 5 is a sacred obligation,” Biden said.
The Defence Department is sending 2,000 US troops to Europe in the next several days in response to the Ukraine crisis, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Wednesday.
Most of the 2,000 troops will be deployed in Poland and the deployment will be temporal, he said.
Moreover, Kirby added that approximately 1,000 US troops currently based in Germany will be moved to Romania at the invitation of Bucharest.
At the same time, the Defence Department does not exclude that a decision will be made to transfer additional US forces to Eastern Europe or to redeploy military contingents within Europe in the coming days or weeks, Kirby said, adding that the decision will depend on the development of the situation on the Ukrainian border with Russia.
Kirby also underscored that all newly announced troop deployments in Europe are separate from the 8,500 US troops being already on heightened alert since late January.
The US military is sent to Eastern Europe not to fight in Ukraine, but to ensure the defense of the NATO allies and partners, he added.
