United States (US) President Joe Biden confirmed on Friday that Washington plans to send a small number of the American troops to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) countries in Eastern Europe in an effort to deter Russia from invading Ukraine. On the same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the West to stop creating “panic” over Russia’s military build-up along the Ukrainian border.
When the reporters at Joint Base Andrews questioned about the situation in Ukraine, Biden replied saying, “I’ll be moving the US troops to Eastern Europe and NATO countries in the near term,” adding that the quantity of troops would be “not a lot.”
Separately, the US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and Joint Chief of Staff Chairman General Mark Milley held a press conference on Friday affirming Washington’s support for NATO and calling Russian President Vladimir Putin to undertake de-escalation measures over Ukraine. Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, Austin stressed that “conflict is not inevitable.” Austin also urged Putin to give diplomacy “time” and “space,” adding, “Mr Putin can do the right thing as well.”
General Milley pointed to the presence of more than 100,000 Russian troops along Ukraine’s border and inside Belarus, saying a military conflict between Moscow and Kyiv would yield a “horrific” result for both sides. Milley also warned Russia to “stand down” from its position.
Additionally, both Austin and Milley highlighted that 8,500 US troops had been put on standby as a part of the NATO Response Troops; however, they emphasised that the troops have not been ordered to go anywhere yet. Last week, the US placed these troops on “high alert” in an effort to display Washington’s solidarity towards its NATO allies.
During a news conference with foreign media on Friday, Zelensky called out the West for their response to Russian aggression, saying, “We don’t need this panic.” He stressed that various world leaders are constantly saying “tomorrow is the war” jeopardising Ukraine’s internal stability. Zelensky added that Ukrainians have learned to live under these circumstances of “imminent and constant” threat from Russia. Zelensky’s comments came after a number of Western countries, including the US, Britain, and Australia, decided to withdraw their embassy personnel from Kyiv for security reasons.
Additionally on Friday, the Kremlin confirmed that the US and NATO had formally rejected Russia’s security demands in a statement detailing a call between Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron. Putin told Macron that Moscow plans to “carefully study” the US’s response even though “the American and NATO responses didn’t take into account Russia’s fundamental concerns.” Putin has previously threatened to deploy nuclear missiles against NATO if his demands were not met.