US transfers another 3,000 soldiers to Poland

Created: 02/11/2022, 23:26

Troops from the US Army's 82nd Airborne Division unload vehicles from a transport plane after arriving at Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport in southeastern Poland.

© Czarek Sokolowski/AP/dpa

Will Putin wait for the end of the Winter Olympics before invading Ukraine?

The US government already thinks an invasion is possible and is moving 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.

The temporary transfer was ordered by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the behest of President Joe Biden.

Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, made it clear that the US government believes a Russian invasion of Ukraine is possible before the end of the Winter Olympics in China on February 20.

Both Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron wanted to call Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin on Saturday.

“Highly mobile and flexible troops”

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.

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.

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.

"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.

Tweets unconfirmed by PBS journalist

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.

Citing Western government officials, he wrote on Twitter that Putin had made a decision to that effect and that the United States was expecting an invasion in the coming week.

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.

The German government is now following developments in Ukraine, but has not yet asked the Germans to leave the country.

When asked, a spokeswoman for the Federal Foreign Office merely referred to the statements made by her ministry in the government press conference.

A spokeswoman there said that the situation was being monitored very closely and that all decisions by the partner countries were being taken into account.

There are regular crisis prevention meetings of all departments.

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 exchanged views with Western allies, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

The White House said the deliberations via video conference lasted almost 80 minutes.

"Prevent a war in Europe"

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.

US President Biden also wanted to call Putin on Saturday.

"In fact, the American side has asked for a meeting with President Putin, and a meeting between the two presidents is planned for tomorrow evening Moscow time," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, according to the Interfax agency.

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