WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden has approved the deployment of nearly 3,000 American troops to eastern Europe in the coming days.
The deployments are above and beyond the 8,500 troops the Pentagon put on alert last month to be ready to deploy to Europe.
A source familiar with the details said 1,700 would deploy from Fort Bragg in North Carolina to Poland and another 300 from the base to Germany. About 1,000 Germany-based troops would to head to Romania, the source said.
The Pentagon said it was not ruling out additional deployments beyond those announced on Wednesday.
The U.S. troops notified of ready-to-deploy orders last week included additional brigade combat teams, logistics personnel, medical support, aviation support and forces involved with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.
Russia repeatedly has denied planning an invasion. But, having engineered the ongoing crisis by surrounding Ukraine with forces from the north, east and south, Moscow is now citing the Western response as evidence to support its narrative that Russia is the target.