- Pentagon has been repositioning troops in Europe for weeks.
- US troop movements are temporary and defensive, the Pentagon has said.
- NATO has about 40,000 troops in its response force, which has not been activated yet.
President Joe Biden has vowed the U.S. military would not engage Russian troops, instead opting for what the administration has called “swift and severe” economic sanctions in an attempt to deter the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Pentagon has been repositioning personnel in allied countries in Eastern Europe for weeks, deploying forces in the United States to Europe and shifting those already on the continent to former Soviet bloc states.
The U.S. has about 90,000 troops in Europe; the largest concentration is based in Germany.
Biden said Tuesday during an address to the nation that he had authorized U.S. forces and equipment already stationed in Europe to move into Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. It was among the latest in a series of U.S. military moves as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine escalated.
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While those countries along Russia’s western border are among the 30 members of NATO, Ukraine is not – a key point in the conflict. Moscow has sought to deter Ukraine from becoming a NATO member in an attempt to blunt Western influence in the region.
Late Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a televised declaration of war in Ukraine, claiming an invasion was necessary to protect civilians. Late Wednesday evening, Russian forces began a military operation in eastern Ukraine.
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Will US troops go to Ukraine?
Biden and Pentagon officials have said repeatedly that U.S. troop movements in the region are temporary and defensive.
“These are totally defensive moves on our part. We have no intention of fighting Russia,” Biden said in an address to the nation Tuesday. “We want to send an unmistakable message, though, that the United States and its allies will defend every inch of NATO territory.”
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters Wednesday that the most recent moves “are short-term, temporary, rotational redeployments,” and he stressed that there were no immediate plans to permanently base troops on NATO’s eastern flank.
“Right now, we're focused on reassuring the allies. And we're going to be in constant contact with them and consultation about what that looks like and how you do that, given the current tensions on the continent. It's too early to tell whether any of this is going to lead to some other longer term posture changes, we're just not at that point right now,” Kirby said.
More:Why is Russia invading Ukraine and how could it affect the world? Could it be the start of WWIII?
Where are U.S. troops deployed?
More than one-third of the 90,000 U.S. troops in Europe are stationed in Germany. But the Pentagon shifted some of those personnel to shore up NATO’s eastern flank in anticipation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Air and ground personnel already in Europe were ordered to move to NATO’s northeastern and southeastern flanks on Tuesday. That includes about 800 troops in an infantry battalion task force moving from Italy to the Baltic region, according to the Pentagon.
Eight F-35 Joint Strike Fighters and 20 AH-64 helicopters in Germany, along with another 12 AH-64 helicopters in Greece were ordered to move into the Baltic region.
More:Why is Russia invading Ukraine and how could it affect the world? Could it be the start of WWIII?
Those latest moves were in addition to about 1,000 U.S. troops already stationed in Europe shifting into Romania, including a regiment from Vilseck, Germany, that brought armored fighting vehicles. Groups of 125 U.S. Army soldiers conducted training missions in Bulgaria and Hungary earlier this month as well.
About 5,000 U.S.-based forces also have been sent to Europe, including 4,700 service members sent to Germany and an infantry brigade combat team sent to Poland. The 160 members of the Florida National Guard who had been deployed to Ukraine since November were repositioned within Europe.
More:Where is Ukraine? Where are NATO members? A guide to post-Soviet eastern Europe
Will NATO send troops?
NATO has access to about 40,000 troops in its NATO Response Force but so far has not activated that group. About 5,000 of those troops have been placed on heightened alert.
Some of the organization’s members have been supplying arms and equipment to Ukraine, but NATO isn’t taking similar action itself. Ukraine is not a NATO member.
NATO has about 5,000 troops and equipment in northeastern Europe, where it has been beefing up since Russia’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.
More:What is NATO? Military alliance in spotlight as Russia tries to forbid Ukraine membership
Will there be a US military draft?
The U.S. military – now a volunteer force of about 1.4 million – hasn’t used a draft to enlist new members since 1973, and there have been no indications that a draft will be used anytime soon.
Reinstating the draft would require action from both Congress and the White House. Congress would need to amend the Military Selective Service Act, and the president would have to sign it.
The names of about 17 million draft-eligible men are on file with the U.S. Selective Service System.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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