American troops will be deployed to Eastern Europe in the “near term,” as President Joe Biden has expressed deep concerns about Russia invading Ukraine.
“I’ll be moving troops to eastern Europe in the NATO countries in the near term,” the president told reporters at Joint Base Andrews Friday night, The Hill reported. “Not too many.”
It’s unclear what numbers of troops he would send at this time, but there are currently 8,500 troops on high alert by the Pentagon for possible deployment to the region.
It’s also unknown what “near term” means.
Related: Report: Russia Sending Medical Supplies to Their Border As U.S. Braces for Possible Conflict
President Joe Biden reportedly had a rough call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Thursday, where they disagreed on the severity of the threat from Russia.
The announcement from the president also comes after a Pentagon news conference earlier on Friday, where Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley answered questions about the potential conflict between Ukraine and Russia and what that would mean for the U.S. and other NATO allies.
“Given the type of forces that are arrayed, the ground maneuver forces, the artillery, the ballistic missiles, the air forces, all of it packaged together. If that was unleashed on Ukraine, it would be significant, very significant, and it would result in a significant amount of casualties and you can you imagine what that might look like in dense urban areas, all along roads, and so on and so forth,” Milley said, according to CNBC.
Furthermore, a report from Reuters revealed that the “military buildup” at the Russian border includes medical supplies, including blood.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member