The US will send troops to Eastern Europe “in the short term” while the president of Ukraine asks Western leaders not to spread panic

The United States will send troops to Eastern Europe “short term”, as reported by President Joe Biden. The Pentagon maintains 8,500 troops on high alert, ready for deployment if the Ukraine crisis worsens.

The arrival of US troops in Eastern Europe could be imminent: “I will mobilize US troops to Eastern Europe and NATO countries in the short term”, Biden has expressed.

The president’s statements came minutes after the direct request of Mark Milley, US Chief of Staff to Russia: “We strongly recommend that Russia withdraw and seek a resolution through diplomacy.“.

Meanwhile, the president of Ukraine has called on Western leaders not to panic, since the warning of an imminent war is already damaging the country’s economy.

Volodymyr Zelensky is also committed to diplomacy. The president agreed yesterday in a meeting with Macron continue dialogue with Russia, thus contradicting the alarms of an immediate conflict that come from Washington.

According to Zelensky, he knows the situation much better than Joe Biden: “Are there tanks circulating through our streets? No. But those who are not here think they are.”

But nevertheless, these words would also obey a strategy. Pedro Baños, a geopolitical analyst, assures that the Ukrainian president is trying to “decrease the tension that the United States is increasing”: “Capital is fearful. Whenever it sees the possibility of a war, it begins to flee. What he is trying to convey is a feeling of peace of mind that he probably doesn’t believe himself”.

In fact, the tension is putting the Ukrainian and Russian economies in check. Since the beginning of the escalation, and in the midst of a context of global inflation, the ruble has fallen more than 11% against the dollar, while the Ukrainian hryvnia has fallen by 10%. In 2022 alone, the Zelensky government has invested $1.5 billion to try to stabilize the currency.

While, the Kremilin continues to mobilize troops in Belarus to conduct military drills in mid-February. In fact, according to Reuters, they have also sent supplies of blood and medical supplies to the border with Ukraine in case there is finally a war.