US transfers another 3,000 soldiers to Poland
Created: 2022-02-11Updated: 2022-02-11, 10:07 p.m
A patch in the shape of the US flag is attached to a US soldier's uniform.
© Darek Delmanowicz/PAP/dpa
Is Putin waiting for the end of the Winter Olympics before invading Ukraine?
The US government considers an invasion before that to be possible.
It moves another 3,000 soldiers to NATO's eastern flank.
Washington - The US government is warning of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine before the end of next week and is relocating around 3,000 more soldiers to the NATO partner state of Poland.
The soldiers of an airborne division from the US state of North Carolina should be on site early next week, the US Department of Defense said on Friday.
The temporary transfer was ordered by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the behest of President Joe Biden.
Biden's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan made it clear on Friday that the US government believes a Russian invasion of Ukraine is possible before the end of the Winter Olympics in China on February 20.
The US government had just ordered the transfer of around 2,000 soldiers to Europe at the beginning of the month.
1700 of them should also be transferred to Poland, a neighboring country of Ukraine.
Two-thirds of them have already arrived, the Pentagon said on Friday.
300 additional soldiers who had been relocated to Germany are already on site.
"All in all, these 5,000 additional soldiers comprise a highly mobile and flexible force capable of multiple deployments," the ministry said.
It is about calming the eastern NATO partners and averting possible aggression.
Soldiers already on increased readiness
At the end of January, on Biden's orders, around 8,500 soldiers in the USA had already been put on increased standby to enable rapid transfer to Europe if necessary.
However, the President and other members of the government made it clear several times that no US soldiers would be sent to Ukraine.
Tens of thousands of US soldiers are also stationed in Europe outside of times of crisis.
According to the US military, there are currently more than 80,000 soldiers in Europe, including around 35,000 in Germany.
Sullivan warned in drastic terms of an escalation.
"We are in a window of opportunity where an invasion could begin at any time should Vladimir Putin decide to order it," he said at a White House news briefing on Friday.
"I will not comment on the details of our intelligence information.
But I want to be clear that it (an invasion) could start during the Olympics, although there is a lot of speculation that it would not happen until after the Olympics.”
Against the background of tensions with the US, Russia and China have moved closer together.
Shortly before the opening of the Winter Olympics, Putin met with Chinese head of state and party leader Xi Jinping in Beijing at the end of last week.
Putin was particularly looking for support in the Ukraine crisis.
It was speculated that the Kremlin chief, also out of consideration for host Xi, wanted to avoid the games being overshadowed by an invasion of Ukraine.
Sullivan: "Signs of Russian Invasion"
Sullivan stressed that the US government had no information that Putin had already made a final decision to invade.
But he also said: "We continue to see signs of a Russian escalation, including new troops arriving at the Ukrainian border." A possible attack could take various forms, including a rapid advance of Russian troops towards the Ukrainian capital of Kiev.
Sullivan did not want to confirm information from a journalist from the US broadcaster PBS.
On Friday, he wrote on Twitter, citing Western government officials, that Putin had made a decision to that effect and that the United States was expecting an invasion in the coming week.
“Leave Ukraine as soon as possible”
Sullivan urged American citizens in Ukraine to leave the country "as soon as possible".
"We don't know exactly what will happen, but the risk is high enough now," he said.
"All Americans in Ukraine should leave the country as soon as possible - and in any case within the next 24 to 48 hours." Great Britain, Denmark, Latvia and Estonia also urged their respective citizens to leave Ukraine on Friday.
If there is a Russian invasion, there will likely be airstrikes first and then a ground offensive, making it very difficult to leave the country, Sullivan said.
"No one could rely on air, rail or land links after a military operation begins," he said.
In such a case, the US military would not evacuate Americans in Ukraine.
Biden in conference with allies
Biden exchanged views with Western allies on Friday, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The White House said the deliberations via video conference lasted almost 80 minutes.
According to information from German government circles, the allies in the switch emphasized their determination to react to a possible Russian invasion with fast and tough sanctions.
In Berlin it was then said that the situation was assessed by the participants from the EU and NATO as "very, very serious".
"All diplomatic efforts are aimed at persuading Moscow to de-escalate," wrote government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit on Twitter.
"It is important to prevent a war in Europe."
In addition to Biden and Scholz, there were EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, EU Council President Charles Michel, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, France's Head of State Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Poland's President Andrzej Duda, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis and Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were invited to the switch.
After the talks, France announced that President Macron would speak again with his Russian colleague Vladimir Putin on Saturday.
The two had recently spoken on the phone several times.
Macron traveled to Moscow for talks on Monday.
Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov spoke to his US colleague Mark Milley on Friday.
"Current issues of international security" were discussed, according to the Defense Ministry in Moscow in the evening.
dpa