The United States is getting closer to deploying military forces to Eastern Europe alongside its NATO allies as the Russian threats against Ukraine continue to escalate.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has put 8,500 American troops on “heightened alert” according to the Pentagon.
Deployment orders have not yet been given to the troops, but putting them on heightened alert means that the possibility of deployment is high.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby made the latest announcement during a news briefing and emphasized that as of now no decision has been finalized on whether the forces would be deployed. He said that the only choice that has indeed been made is to put them on a higher alert status.
Moscow has amassed more than 100,000 troops at the border, putting fears of a Russian invasion into Ukraine at an all-time high. After multiple forms of diplomatic talks over the past two weeks, no diplomatic solution or breakthrough has been within grasps.
This has caused the U.S. and its western allies to step up their response mechanisms against Russia, and with it, has increased fears that this is boiling towards a military invasion.
European leaders on Monday alongside the U.S. participated in a 90-minute video conference to discuss options on Russia’s military presence in Ukraine. Participating in the call was NATO, the U.S., the U.K., Poland, France, Germany, Italy, and other leaders. After the call, Biden said that it was a good meeting and that there was unanimity between the leaders.
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