Joe Biden said that more US troops would be deployed against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Washington:
US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that the United States will continue to supply “defensive” weapons to Ukraine against Russian aggression and deploy US troops to bolster NATO allies in Eastern Europe.
“I have authorized additional movements of US forces and equipment already stationed in Europe to strengthen our Baltic allies, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania,” Biden said in a televised speech at the White House.
“Let me be clear, this is a completely defensive move on our part.”
The Pentagon announced the details of the move after Biden spoke.
It said it would move 800 soldiers from Italy to an infantry battalion task force in the Baltic region and eight F-35 strike fighter jets from Germany to “multiple operational locations along the eastern side of NATO”.
Twenty AH-64 attack helicopters were to be transferred from Germany to the Baltic region and 12 more would be transferred from Greece to Poland.
These moves will now force more than 90,000 US troops stationed temporarily or permanently in Europe.
“These additional personnel are being deployed to reassure our NATO allies, to deter any potential aggression against NATO member states, and to train with host nation forces,” a senior US defense official said in a statement.
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