WASHINGTON (The Hill) - The Pentagon is deciding if it should add more U.S. troops to NATO-member countries in Eastern Europe on a permanent basis following Russia’s operation in Ukraine last week, a top Defense Department official said.
“We recognize this dynamic situation now requires us to give it another fine-tooth look to see what’s necessary to ensure that we’ve got deterrence of Russia and that we can absolutely 150 percent say that NATO is safe and secure,” Mara Karlin, the assistant Defense secretary for strategy, plans and capabilities, told lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee.
“So we’re looking at what sort of troop presence, whether it’s rotational or permanent, is necessary given this current security environment, both in the near term and frankly, in the long term,” she added.
Karlin said the Pentagon will take another look at the 2021 Global Posture review, released late last year. The document, which looked closely at troop numbers in Europe and elsewhere, at the time found forces to be “about right,” in their locations and offered no recommendations for major shifts.
The U.S. currently contributes 635 troops to Kosovo.
Last month, ex-Soviet nation Lithuania — where the U.S. keeps a rotational force of about 500 troops — indicated that it would also ask the U.S. to permanently station America forces there.
The Biden administration has already surged roughly 15,000 U.S. troops to Eastern Europe to bolster NATO’s defense capabilities.