"Green light" to deployment 3.000 U.S. troops to Eastern Europe in the coming days, Joe Biden has given a "green light" to the deployment of 3,000 U.S. troops to Eastern Europe in the coming days, even as Russian President Vladimir Putin accuses both the U.S. and NATO of trying to lure him into war with Ukraine.
According to U.S. officials telling the Wall Street Journal, 2,000 troops based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, will be deployed to Poland and Germany this week.
According to statements by U.S. officials to the Wall Street Journal, 2,000 troops based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, will be deployed to Poland and Germany this week. Also, an additional 1,000 troops who are part of a Germany-based infantry squadron will be redeployed to Romania, the closest point to Russia that NATO has.
The Pentagon is expected to announce the deployment and redeployment of troops soon as the West waits to see if Russia will invade Ukraine after moving at least 130.000 troops on its border.
On heightened alert 8,500 US troops
Last month, President Biden put 8,500 troops on heightened alert in preparation for a possible move to Eastern Europe. The goal is to help strengthen the region against threats from Russia if NATO decides to activate its response force. At the same time, the Pentagon has ordered a few thousand more troops to stand by for deployment.
The US Department of Defense has similar intentions and is expected to move other forces into Europe, according to an official.
However, officials assure that the Pentagon's goal is to prevent a war in Europe and to prevent Russia from taking additional military action against Ukraine. Already, the US has sent millions in military aid with at least six deployments to Kiev.
Washington and NATO allies have already offered to start talks with Moscow on arms control and confidence-building measures to defuse the confrontation in Ukraine, according to excerpts of letters sent to Vladimir Putin that were leaked today.
What the US and NATO responded to the written guarantees requested by Russia
The proposals, presented in letters from NATO and the US last month, in response to the guarantees requested by the Russian side, set out in full detail areas for future talks, which include nuclear weapons, the deployment of cruise and intermediate-range missiles in Europe, military exercises, cyber-attacks and space weapons.
As part of efforts to reassure the Kremlin, US diplomats say they are willing to give Russia access to NATO bases in Poland and Romania to confirm the absence of Tomahawk missiles.
However, both letters clearly state that there will be no ban on Ukraine joining NATO and there is no mention of the Russian demand that all Alliance forces withdraw from former USSR states.
The letters do not rule out the possibility of force reductions. But this becomes clear that this will only happen on the condition of reciprocity from Russia, for example by withdrawing forces from Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova. It is also stated that if Putin continues to build up forces on Europe's doorstep, then NATO and the US will be "forced" to increase their own in response.
Both NATO and Russia declined to comment on the authenticity of the documents, which were leaked to Spanish media. At the same time, satellite images surfaced purporting the continued buildup of Russian troops near Ukraine and Crimea.
Up to 130,000 Russian troops on the border with Ukraine
Putin's government has deployed up to 130,000 troops and military hardware near the border. The security guarantees he has requested from NATO include a ban on Ukraine joining NATO as well as the withdrawal of allied troops from former Soviet Union countries. Western allies reject the membership ban request, but call for meaningful arms limitation talks and dialogue with Russia with mutual transparency and confidence-building measures.
"No other partner has been given a similar relationship or institutional framework," the allies say of the NATO-Russia Council, in the letter published by El Pais. "Yet Russia has broken trust in the core of our cooperation and challenged the fundamental principles of the global and Euro-Atlantic architecture."
At the same time, the allies say they are ready to consider arrangements or agreements with Russia on matters of bilateral interest, to include written, signed texts, on security concerns. At the same time, the US proposes renewing the Military Stability Dialogue with Moscow on arms control agreements and the limitation of medium- and shorter-range ground-based missiles. However, they reiterate the warning that Russia is already in violation of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which Washington withdrew from in 2019, accusing Moscow of developing a banned type of missile.
At the same time, Washington warns that further increases in forces or further aggression against Ukraine will force the US and NATO to strengthen their defense posture.
Putin accuses US of tooling Ukraine
The leak came after Putin accused the US of trying to put Russia at war with Ukraine as a pretext for imposing tough sanctions on his country. Vladimir Putin accused Washington of using Ukraine as a tool to intimidate Russia and limit its growth, ignoring legitimate security fears.
Putin, who has spoken infrequently since the confrontation in Ukraine began in November, said he hoped for a diplomatic solution to the crisis. But that, he explained, can happen if the interests and security of all parties are respected. At the same time, he said that the Kremlin was considering written responses to the security assurances given by Washington and NATO, but it was clear that most of the Russian concerns were ignored.
"I hope that we will come to a solution, although we realize that it is not going to be easy," he said. At the same time, he argued that the Western allies' refusal to meet Russia's demands violates their obligations.
Source: protothema.gr
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