Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin put roughly 8,500 troops on “heightened alert” for a potentially quick deployment to Eastern Europe as the region prepares for the possibility of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Austin issued the order at the direction of President Joe Biden, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday. He also noted that no final decision about deployment has been made yet.
“Secretary Austin has placed a range of units in the United States on a heightened preparedness to deploy, which increases our readiness to provide forces if NATO should activate the [NATO Response Force] or if other situations develop. All told, the number of forces that the secretary has placed on heightened alert comes up to about 8500 personnel,” Kirby explained.
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The Pentagon’s announcement came the same day NATO agreed to deploy additional ships and fighter jets to operate as a “deterrence and defense as Russia continues its military build-up in and around Ukraine,” according to a statement. The troops would not be sent to Ukraine itself.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said: “I welcome Allies contributing additional forces to NATO. NATO will continue to take all necessary measures to protect and defend all Allies, including by reinforcing the eastern part of the Alliance. We will always respond to any deterioration of our security environment, including through strengthening our collective defence.”
Russia has moved roughly 100,000 troops along the Ukraine-Russia border weeks ago, creating concern of a possible incursion similar to Crimea in 2014, though the Russian government maintains that they’re not a threat.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki also told reporters on Monday that Russian military aggression could “come at any time” and that it is “prepared in any moment to take military action.”
The White House said it is concerned “Russia could at any point launch an attack on Ukraine” last week and that Putin could conduct a “false flag operation” to drum up action to justify a military response. At the negotiating table, Russia has demanded that NATO exclude Ukraine and other nations formerly a part of the Soviet Union.
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Over the weekend, Secretary of State Antony Blinken ordered “eligible family members” of U.S. diplomats in Kyiv to leave the country and granted permission for “non-emergency U.S. government employees” to depart if they so choose. At about the same time, British officials revealed that they have intelligence that purports to show that Russian President Vladimir Putin initially planned to oust Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
