President Biden has signed off on sending additional troops to reinforce NATO allies in eastern Europe amid a mounting crisis with Russia over Ukraine and security policy across the continent. The U.S. troops could begin deploying within days.
About 2,000 U.S. military personnel will be sent to forward locations in Poland with another 1,000 troops heading to Romania.
“They are moves designed to respond to the current security environment,” chief Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday. “They are going to ensure the robust defense of our NATO allies.”
Defense Department officials insist the U.S. troops will not be sent to Ukraine. Their mission will be to reassure and bolster the defense of NATO allies, Mr. Kirby said.
“We expect them to start moving in the coming days,” he said.
Russia continues pouring more troops into the region and shows no sign of letting up, officials said.
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“It’s important that we send a strong signal to Mr. Putin — and frankly to the world — that NATO ‘matters’ to the United States,” Mr. Kirby said.
The deployment to Romania includes about 1,000 soldiers from a Stryker cavalry squadron already based in Germany. They will augment about 900 U.S. troops already there, Mr. Kirby said.
A brigade combat team from the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C. will be sent to Poland to bolster its defenses. An element from the division’s higher headquarters, the 18th Airborne Corps, will be sent to Germany to set up operations there.
“We’re moving additional U.S. forces [to Eastern Europe] at the request and with the invitation of those countries. We take our NATO commitments very, very seriously,” Mr. Kirby said.
The deployment of the U.S. troops to Poland and Romania is separate from the mission of NATO’s rapid response force. The Pentagon issued stand-by orders, putting another 8,500 troops on “high alert” for possible deployment as the U.S. contingent of the 40,000-member NATO strike force. Those troops have yet to receive orders to ship out, officials said.
Other countries, such as Britain, France, Denmark and Belgium, also are sending troops and military assets to NATO’s eastern flank as a show of force to Russia.
“The U.S. will consult with France and all our allies to ensure we complement each other,” Mr. Kirby said. “We will adjust our posture as the conditions evolve.”
The U.S. deployment is the latest development in the continuing crisis over Russia assembling thousands of combat troops on the border with Ukraine and within neighboring Belarus.
U.S. and NATO officials said an invasion could be imminent, although Moscow has denied that is their intention. Russia says it wants reassurances that Ukraine won’t become a member of NATO and that the alliance will reduce its military presence in eastern Europe. NATO officials have said Moscow does not get to dictate the terms of the alliance.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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