US President Biden wants to move US troops to Eastern Europe
Created: 01/29/2022 01:54
US President Joe Biden had 8,500 soldiers in the US put on increased readiness.
© Andrew Harnik/AP/dpa
Ukraine crisis: US President Joe Biden takes further precautionary measures and orders increased readiness to be able to quickly move soldiers to Eastern European NATO countries.
According to President Joe Biden, the United States will soon be moving additional US troops to the NATO countries in Eastern Europe because of the Ukraine crisis.
It is about “not too many” soldiers, Biden restricted in Washington when returning from a visit to the state of Pennsylvania.
He did not give any specifics as to how many soldiers there might be and where exactly they might be transferred and when.
"I will soon be moving troops to Eastern Europe and NATO countries," Biden said.
On Biden's orders, 8,500 soldiers in the United States were put on increased readiness on Monday to enable rapid transfer if necessary.
Biden had emphasized that it was a precautionary measure to address the concerns of Eastern European NATO members.
No US soldiers would be sent to Ukraine.
Tens of thousands of US soldiers are regularly stationed in Europe, including around 35,000 in Germany, even outside of times of crisis.
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On Thursday afternoon (local time), US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had stated that there had not yet been any orders to relocate the soldiers.
They are ready in the US, but have not yet been requested by NATO, Austin said at the Pentagon.
With a massive Russian troop deployment near Ukraine, there are fears in the West that the Kremlin may be planning an invasion of the neighboring country.
However, it is also considered possible that fears are only being stirred up in order to persuade the NATO states to make concessions when demands for new security guarantees are made.
Moscow denies plans for an alleged invasion.
dpa