Up to 8,500 US forces have been placed on “heightened alert” for potential deployment to eastern Europe amid growing tensions between Washington and Moscow over Ukraine, the Pentagon announced Monday.
Defense Department press secretary John Kirby stressed during his regular briefing that no final decision had been made about whether to send troops to the region as part of a 40,000-strong NATO Response Force (NRF) in the event Russia invades its western neighbor.
“We’ll continue to provide updates in the coming days about these decisions,” Kirby said. “But specifically this will ensure that the United States and our commitment to the NRF has – is consistent with their readiness for rapid deployment again, if activated.”
Kirby further clarified that the troops would likely be considered “ground forces,” as well as that the NRF can only be activated by NATO rather than President Biden.
“It is our contribution to the Response Force,” he said, “and we want to make sure that they’re ready to go.”
The main effect of Monday’s announcement is to shorten the time troops are allowed to prepare for deployment. As an example, Kirby suggested that some units which would usually be given 10 days to prepare for deployment will now only be given five.
“That’s not the case for every unit that is being notified that they’re in a heightened alert,” he clarified. “Some are simply more ready and postured that way than others. The idea though, is that all of these units … will be ready to go on a shortened timeframe.”
The vast majority of the 8,500 troops would likely be active-duty forces. However, Kirby was unable to promise reserve forces would not be involved. He declined to specify which units would be put on heightened alert, explaining that notices were being sent out Monday afternoon.
The forces involved will likely include additional brigade combat teams, logistics personnel, medical support, aviation support, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and transportation.
The move comes the same day that NATO announced it would be increasing its military presence in Eastern Europe as fears of a Russian invasion into Ukraine increase.
NATO revealed that Denmark would send a frigate to the Baltic Sea and was ready to dispatch four F-16 fighter jets to Lithuania. Spain would deploy ships to join NATO naval forces and was considering sending fighter jets to Bulgaria, while France has said it is willing to send troops to Romania.
The Netherlands is also sending two F-35 fighters to Bulgaria beginning in April.
Kirby defended NATO’s movements during Monday’s briefing calling it a “defensive alliance.”
“I don’t think anybody wants to see another war on the European continent, and there’s no reason why that has to occur. This could be solved very easily by the Russians deescalating by moving some of these forces away, which they haven’t done,” he said.
“And so NATO as a defensive alliance – and it is a defensive alliance – has a responsibility to its members to make sure that they’re able to defend themselves, if needed.”
Ukraine shares a border with four NATO member states: Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
The US has promised “severe” economic sanctions if Russian President Vladmir Putin decides to invade Ukraine, however many worry that it will not be enough to deter Moscow.
When pressed on how putting thousands of US troops on “heightened alert” protects Ukraine, Kirby pointed out that the move is “designed to reassure our NATO allies.”
“It sends a very clear signal to Mr. Putin that we take our responsibilities to NATO seriously,” he added. ‘And we are also working inside the international community to implement severe consequences for Mr. Putin if he were to go again into Ukraine – largely, those are of economic consequences.”
Russia is believed to have amassed roughly 100,000 troops across several points along the Ukrainian border and has begun to move military weapons, equipment and troops into Belarus – stoking fears of an invasion from the north.
The US has also begun to ramp up materiel support for Ukraine in recent days, sending two shipments of lethal aid to the country over the weekend and approving American-made weapons to be sent to Ukraine from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Meanwhile, the State Department announced over the weekend that family members of American Embassy personnel would be evacuated from Ukraine, a move Kiev’s foreign ministry described as “premature.”
