The Pentagon raised the tone before Russia and warned that it put 8,500 soldiers on “high” alert due to the increase in tension over Ukraine.
The United States does not rule out preparing more soldiers, beyond the 8,500 announced on Monday, before a possible deployment in Eastern Europe if necessary, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday.
Kirby noted that the US government does not rule out the possibility of placing more forces on “high alert” in the coming days and weeks, in response to a question on this subject during an interview with the American television network CNN.
That measure could affect some of the troops that the US has stationed in its bases on European soil. “They are already there to support our allies on the ground,” Kirby recalled.
On Monday, the Pentagon raised the tone against Russia and warned that it put Russia on “high” alert. 8,500 soldiers in the face of increased tension over Ukraine, although no decision has yet been made about a deployment to Eastern Europe.
Kirby explained at a press conference on Monday that with this measure these military units, most of them on land, will be ready in less time in case Russia decides to advance towards Ukraine.
“We’re not deploying them now, we’re not saying that diplomacy is dead,” Kirby said, adding that being on “high alert” cuts the preparation time to deploy from 10 to five days.
asked in CNN On whether those soldiers could be deployed in places that are not allied territory, Kirby answered bluntly: “No, certainly not.”
“Our interest is to maintain security and stability on the European continent. We have tens of thousands of US forces deployed, either on a rotational basis or permanently, on the European continent. Security and stability there is in our own national security interest,” he said.
In parallel, he added that The US has sent three military assistance packages to Ukraine in recent days, and that there will be more to ensure that the Ukrainians can defend themselves.
And he stressed that his country currently has “a small group” of military trainers inside Ukraine, who have been there for months advising the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Tension has skyrocketed in recent weeks a possible Russian invasion or incursion into Ukraine, after Moscow mobilized some 100,000 soldiers on the Ukrainian border.
The Kremlin insists that has no intention of attacking Ukraine and that all troop movements and military activities within Russian territory are a sovereign matter.
More than 60 Russian fighters and fighter-bombers are currently participating in missile-firing exercises in southern Russia, in the Crimean peninsula, annexed in 2014, and the Rostov and Krasnodar regions, close to Ukraine, the press office of the Russian military constituency South reported on Tuesday. (I)
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