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Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby told media on February 2 that additional US forces were being sent to Europe because Russia “continues to add forces” near Ukraine and had shown “no signs of being interested or willing to de-escalate the tensions.” Kirby had earlier told the press briefing that 3,000 extra troops were being moved temporarily to Romania, Poland, and Germany as the “current situation” near Ukraine’s borders demanded the reinforcement of the “deterrent and defensive posture on NATO’s eastern flank.” He stressed that while they were not “permanent deployments”, the US could not rule out more movements in the “coming days or weeks.” When asked by a reporter why the US had decided to deploy military forces to Europe at this time, Kirby said: “Putin continues to add forces — combined arms, offensive capabilities — even over just the last 24 hours. He continues to add in western Russia, and in Belarus and again, as I said, in the Mediterranean and the north Atlantic.” The Russian leader had “shown no signs of being interested or willing to de-escalate the tensions,” Kirby said. Putin has repeatedly denied that Russia was amassing a force near Ukraine’s border to prepare for a possible invasion, and on Tuesday accused the US and its allies of ignoring Russia’s security proposals, which include the removal of NATO forces in Eastern Europe and a guarantee that Ukraine would not be accepted into NATO. The Russian leader also said the US was using Ukraine as a “tool” to contain Russia. The US and its allies say Ukraine has the right to apply to join international alliances, and say they have been pursuing diplomatic routes with Russia to try to reduce tensions. Speaking to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the US of using “aggressive rhetoric” and “pumping” Ukraine’s armed forces “with various weapons,” according to a readout of the call from Russia’s foreign ministry. Lavrov said the US, instead of supplying arms, should urge Ukraine to implement the terms of the Minsk Protocol, an agreement signed in 2014 that was meant to bring an end to the conflict in eastern Ukraine, the readout said. According to Reuters, several military and political steps agreed to in the Minsk deal remain unimplemented. “A major blockage has been Russia’s insistence that it is not a party to the conflict and therefore is not bound by its terms. Point 10, for example, calls for the withdrawal of all foreign armed formations and military equipment from the two disputed regions, Donetsk and Luhansk: Ukraine says this refers to forces from Russia, but Moscow denies it has any there,” Reuters reported. During the same call, Blinken called on Russia to “de-escalate” from Ukraine’s borders and warned Lavrov that a “further invasion of Ukraine would be met with swift and severe consequences,” according to a readout from the US State Department. According to the Russian foreign ministry, Lavrov told Blinken that “all OSCE countries should abide by the commitment not to enhance their security at the expense of the security of others.” Credit: US Dept of Defense via Storyful
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