The administration of Democrat President Joe Biden has officially placed almost nine thousand U.S. troops on a state of heightened alert as the event taking place in Eastern Europe continues to worsen as the area stands in the shadow of a possible invasion by Russian forces.
“I want to provide some facts on these preparations that will reinforce our commitment to NATO and to the NATO Response Force and increase our readiness,” stated John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary. “Secretary Austin has placed a range of units in the United States on a heightened preparedness to deploy, which increases our readiness to provide forces if NATO should activate the NRF or if other situations developed.”
Kirby went on to say, “All told, the number of forces that the Secretary has placed on heightened alert comes up to about 8,500 personnel.”
This issue crops up as Russia has gathered almost 100,000 soldiers along the Ukrainian border and has started to demand concessions from the West, up to and including banning Ukraine from joining NATO. NATO has released a statement that has indicated that what Russia has demanded is an outright nonstarter for the group.
As reported by the Associated Press:
NATO said Monday it is bolstering its “deterrence” in the Baltic Sea region. Denmark is sending a frigate and deploying F-16 warplanes to Lithuania; Spain is sending four fighter jets to Bulgaria and three ships to the Black Sea to join NATO naval forces; and France stands ready to send troops to Romania. The Netherlands also plans to send two F-35 fighter aircraft to Bulgaria from April.
Jens Stoltenberg, the Secretary-General for NATO, stated this past Monday that the main goal of NATO currently is to prevent a military conflict from breaking out in Ukraine.
“And that’s exactly why we send a very clear message to Russia that if they once again decide to use force against Ukraine, it will come with a high costs for Russia. Economic, financial, political sanction,” stated Stoltenberg. “NATO Allies also provide support to Ukraine. Ukraine has of course the right to self-defense as every sovereign nation has. And NATO Allies help them to uphold that right to self-defense with the support Allies provided to Ukraine.”
This news come to light as a statement from the Biden administration went out that ordered the families of all American personnel located within the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine to get out of the country over this past weekend.
“The security conditions, particularly along Ukraine’s borders, in Russia-occupied Crimea, and in Russia-controlled eastern Ukraine, are unpredictable and can deteriorate with little notice. Demonstrations, which have turned violent at times, regularly occur throughout Ukraine, including in Kyiv,” stated the U.S. State Department. “Do not travel to Ukraine due to the increased threats of Russian military action and COVID-19. Exercise increased caution in Ukraine due to crime and civil unrest. Some areas have increased risk.”
One source located close to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated to BuzzFeed News that Zelensky “does not think there’s any remotely imminent threat to Kyiv.”
“The fact that the US was the first one to announce this is extremely disappointing and quite frankly these Americans are safer in Kyiv than they are in Los Angeles … or any other crime-ridden city in the US,” stated the unnamed source. “On the one hand, [Washington tells Ukraine] how we should democratize. We stand with you. It’s your right to determine to join the West. We will stand with you against Russian aggression. Then Russia turns up the temperature and they’re the first to leave.”
The source went on to state that Zelensky sees Biden limpwristed response as “utterly ridiculous” and an outright sign of “U.S. inconsistency.”
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