(Trends Wide) — The administration of US President Joe Biden is in the final stages of identifying the specific military units it wants to send to Eastern Europe and drafting military orders in an effort to deter Russia, which has concentrated tens of thousands of troops on the border with Ukraine, according to several US defense officials.
No final decision has been made, but Trends Wide reported that Biden discussed with his top military officials options for bolstering US troop levels in the Baltic and Eastern Europe, according to a senior official. The conversation occurred during a briefing at Camp David on Saturday, according to the source.
US deployment in Europe amid warnings
The possible troop deployments come amid warnings from the United States that a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine could be imminent. The State Department this Sunday reduced the staff of the US embassy. in Kyiv, Ukraine. Non-essential staff and family members were ordered to leave out of “an abundance of caution.”
One option the Biden administration is considering is moving 1,000 to 5,000 troops. Precisely, both to shore up allies in Eastern Europe and the Baltic and to be available in case it is necessary to evacuate US citizens, according to a senior defense official.
The goal of sending military reinforcements to Eastern Europe would be to provide a deterrent and reassure the allies. There is also no suggestion that US troops will be deployed to Ukraine or engaged in combat roles.
The United States sent two arms shipments to Ukraine in the past week. This as part of recently targeted security assistance to help bolster Ukraine’s military.
NATO is not far behind
NATO countries have also sent additional warships and warplanes to Eastern Europe, as well as putting forces on standby, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement on Monday.
“NATO will continue to take all necessary measures to protect and defend all allies, including strengthening the eastern part of the alliance,” Stoltenberg said.
The latest intelligence assessment from the Ukrainian Defense Ministry indicates that Russia has now deployed more than 127,000 troops to the region. Meanwhile, US officials have said Russia is ready to launch an invasion at any time.
US officials still don’t know what Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to do or whether he has decided to invade Ukraine. But, some officials who have seen the intelligence say there is evidence that Russia plans to try to take Kyiv and overthrow the government, as Trends Wide has previously reported.
The UK Foreign Office said in a statement on Saturday that it has information that the Russian government plans to “install a pro-Russian leader in Kyiv while it considers whether to invade and occupy Ukraine.”
Russia denies it is planning an invasion
For its part, Moscow denies it is planning an invasion. In that sense, he accuses the United States and NATO of increasing tensions in their support for Ukraine. The Kremlin on Monday dismissed reports of plans to install a pro-Russian leader in Ukraine as “hysteria.”
“Tensions are rising due to concrete actions taken by the United States and NATO,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “I mean, the information hysteria that we’re seeing. It’s generously framed by a lot of misinformation, just lies and untruths,” he added.
State Department officials told reporters Sunday that the decision to reduce staff at the embassy was not due to any change in threat levels to US diplomats in the country. The officials explained that the move to reduce embassy staff and urge Americans in the country to leave was in part because State Department assistance would be “severely affected” if there is Russian military action in Ukraine.
In addition to the reduction of US staff at its embassy in Kyiv, the UK Foreign Office also announced on Monday that some British embassy staff and their dependents would be withdrawn in response to growing threats from Russia. .
The US continues to communicate diplomatically with Russia. But, recent talks failed to make any headway. Russia said the United States and NATO must commit to never admit Ukraine to the organization and withdraw military deployments from Eastern European countries, including Romania and Bulgaria. The United States has repeatedly said that these demands are impossible. Although Secretary of State Antony Blinken indicated last week that the United States would respond in writing to Moscow’s demands after his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
