WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd February, 2022) The Defense Department is sending 2,000 US troops to Europe in the next several days in response to the Ukraine crisis, spokesman John Kirby said on Wednesday.
"We are moving an additional force of approximately 2,000 troops from the United States to Europe in the next few days," Kirby told a press briefing.
Kirby explained that the US troops will be sent to three NATO countries - Poland, Germany and Romania - to strengthen NATO's Eastern flank amid tensions between Ukraine and Russia.
Most of the 2,000 troops will be deployed in Poland and the deployment will be "temporal," he said.
Moreover, Kirby added that approximately 1,000 US troops currently based in Germany will be moved to Romania at the invitation of the country's government.
At the same time, the Defense Department does not exclude that a decision will be made to transfer additional US forces to Eastern Europe or to redeploy military contingents within Europe in the coming days or weeks, Kirby said, adding that the decision will depend on the development of the situation on the Ukrainian border with Russia.
"We are not ruling out the possibility that there will be more (US troops) coming up (to Europe) in future days and weeks," he said.
Kirby also underscored that all newly announced troop deployments in Europe are separate from the 8,500 US troops being already on heightened alert since late January.
The US military is sent to Eastern Europe not to fight in Ukraine, but to ensure the defense of the NATO allies and partners, he said.
"These are not permanent moves. They are moved to respond to the current security environment. Moreover, these forces are not going to fight in Ukraine, they are going to ensure the robust defense of our NATO allies," Kirby said.
Notably, the Defense Department has said it still does not know whether Russia will undertake any military actions against Ukraine.
"We don't know if Russia made the final decision to invade Ukraine... (yet) Russia clearly has the capability to invade Ukraine," Kirby added.
