Biden sending more troops to Europe amid Ukraine tension
President Joe Biden is
sending about 2,000 troops from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to Poland and
Germany this week and shifting roughly 1,000 Germany-based soldiers to Romania,
a senior administration official said Wednesday.
Biden has said he will not put American
troops in Ukraine to fight any Russian incursion, although the United States is
supplying Ukraine with weapons to defend itself.
The military moves come amid stalled talks
with Russia over its military buildup at Ukraine's borders. And they underscore
growing fears across Europe that Russian President Vladimir Putin is poised to
invade Ukraine. Smaller NATO countries on the alliance's eastern flank worry
they could be next, although Russia has said it has no intention of initiating
conflict and is willing to continue diplomatic efforts.
The administration official spoke on the
condition of anonymity to discuss military moves not yet announced.
Biden had said recently that he intended to
provide additional U.S. forces to NATO allies in Eastern Europe as reassurance
of an American commitment as treaty allies.
The Pentagon also has put about 8,500
U.S.-based troops on higher alert for possible deployment to Europe as
additional reassurance to allies, and officials have indicated the possibility
that additional units could be placed on higher alert soon. The U.S. already
has between 75,000 and 80,000 troops in Europe as permanently stationed forces
and as part of regular rotations in place such as Poland.
Washington and Moscow have been at
loggerheads over Ukraine, with little sign of a diplomatic path forward. A
Spanish newspaper on Wednesday reported that the United States could be willing
to enter into an agreement with Russia to ease tensions over missile
deployments in Europe if Moscow steps back from the brink in Ukraine.
The daily El Pais published two documents
purported to be written replies from the United States and NATO last week to
Russia's proposals for a new security arrangement in Europe. The U.S. State
department declined to comment on them.
In reference to the second document, NATO
said that it never comments on "alleged leaks." But the text closely
reflects statements made to the media last week by NATO Secretary-General Jens
Stoltenberg as he laid out the 30-nation military organization's position on
Russia's demands.
The U.S. document, marked as a confidential
"non-paper," said that the United States would be willing to discuss
in consultation with its NATO partners "a transparency mechanism to
confirm the absences of Tomahawk cruise missiles at Aegis Ashore sites in
Romania and Poland."
That would happen on condition that Russia
"offers reciprocal transparency measures on two ground-launched missiles
bases of our choosing in Russia."
Aegis Ashore is a system for defending
against short- or intermediate-range missiles. Russia argues the site in
Romania could be easily adapted to fire cruise missiles instead of
interceptors, which ram their target and do not carry warheads, a claim that
Washington has denied.
Russian President Vladimir Putin again
mentioned the possibility Tuesday, saying that "there are MK-41 launchers
there that could be configured for firing Tomahawks." He said they
"are offensive systems that could reach thousands of kilometers into our
territory. Isn't that a threat to us?"
The U.S. document said Washington would have
to consult with NATO allies on the potential offer, particularly with Romania
and Poland.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to
comment on the leaked documents, saying only that "we didn't release
anything." In comments to the state RIA Novosti news agency, Russia's
Foreign Ministry also refused to confirm or deny that the documents published
by El Pais were authentic.
Fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine have
mounted in recent months, after Putin deployed more than 100,000 troops to
areas near Ukraine's borders, including in neighboring Belarus, backed by
tanks, artillery, helicopters and warplanes. Russian officials have insisted
that Moscow has no intention of invading.
The U.S. underlined after its written
proposals in the leaked document that "progress can only be achieved on
these issues in an environment of de-escalation with respect to Russia's
threatening actions towards Ukraine."
In his first public remarks on the standoff
in more than a month, Putin on Tuesday accused the U.S. and its allies of
ignoring Russia's central security demands but he said that Moscow is willing
to talk more to ease tensions over Ukraine.
His remarks suggested that a potential
Russian invasion may not be imminent and that at least one more round of
diplomacy is likely.
After talks in Kyiv Wednesday with Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte underlined that
"it is essential for dialogue to continue." If not, Rutte, said,
"it is clear that further aggression against Ukraine will have serious
consequences."
Russia's military buildup has already taken a
toll on Ukraine's economy, but Zelenskyy said his government has taken steps to
calm the markets and the local currency, the hryvnia. He said Ukraine has also
boosted its combat and armed forces capabilities, but underlined that "we
think only about peace and de-occupation of (our) territories, solely through
diplomatic means."
Notable in its absence from the leaked
documents is any mention of Ukraine's hopes of joining NATO. Putin has demanded
that NATO stop taking in any new members and withdraw its troops and equipment
from countries that joined the alliance since 1997, almost half its ranks.
In the leaked document linked to NATO, the 30
allies said they "reaffirm our commitment to NATO's Open Door
policy," without specifically mentioning Ukraine. Under Article 10 of
NATO's founding treaty, other European countries may be invited in if they further
the goals of European security.
At a NATO summit in 2008, NATO leaders said
that they welcomed "Ukraine's and Georgia's Euro-Atlantic aspirations for
membership in NATO," adding: "We agreed today that these countries
will become members of NATO."
Russia invaded Georgia later that year, and
in 2014 annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. Around 14,000 people have been
killed in the conflict that still simmers in eastern Ukraine. Their membership
plans have been on hold for years, although NATO continues to support them and
promote reforms.
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