US President Joe Biden has approved sending additional forces to Eastern Europe as Washington moves to avert a feared Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said on Wednesday that troops would soon be moved to Poland, Romania and Germany in response to the “current security climate” . He told a news briefing that 1,000 forces currently based in Germany would be repositioned to Romania and 2,000 troops would be deployed from the United States to Poland and Germany.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko denounced the step as “destructive”.
The US’ announcement came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday accused the West of trying to provoke Moscow into a war.
In his first comments on the Ukraine crisis in more than a month, Putin also reiterated Russia’s security demands and said it was clear that the Kremlin’s “fundamental concerns” had been ignored by Washington and NATO.US State Department spokesperson Ned Price has rejected Moscow’s assertion that Washington is escalating tensions by sending additional troops to Europe, accusing Russia of attempting to turn “reality upside down”.
“These are not permanent moves; they are precisely in response to the current security environment in light of this increasingly threatening behaviour by the Russian Federation,” Price told reporters.French President Emmanuel Macron says he will discuss the Ukraine crisis with Biden by phone in the coming hours.
Macron made the comments as he arrived for an informal meeting of EU interior ministers in Tourcoing in northern France.
“I will in the coming hours speak with President Biden”, Macron said, adding that depending “on progress in our discussions in the coming hours,” he could not rule out traveling to Russia for talks with Putin.Moscow has denounced the US’s troop deployment announcement as “destructive”.
“Not substantiated by anyone, destructive steps which increase military tension and reduce scope for political decisions,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told the Interfax news agency.British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told Putin that any incursion into Ukraine would be a “tragic miscalculation”.
“The prime minister expressed his deep concern about Russia’s current hostile activity on the Ukrainian border,” a spokesman for Johnson said following the latter’s talks by phone with the Russian leader.
“He emphasised the need to find a way forward which respects both Ukraine’s territorial integrity and right to self defence. The prime minister stressed that any further Russian incursion into Ukrainian territory would be a tragic miscalculation,” the spokesman added.Ukraine does not believe it is at risk from an imminent full-scale invasion by Russia, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said, but is “preparing for all scenarios”.
Urging the country’s Western allies to “remain rational” in their presentation of the current risk posed, Kuleba said that the build-up of Russian troops near its border with Ukraine is the most pressing concern for Kyiv.Ukraine does not believe it is at risk from an imminent full-scale invasion by Russia, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said, but is “preparing for all scenarios”.
Urging the country’s Western allies to “remain rational” in their presentation of the current risk posed, Kuleba said that the build-up of Russian troops near its border with Ukraine is the most pressing concern for Kyiv.
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