Biden considers deploying thousands of troops to Eastern Europe

U.S. President Joe Biden is weighing a plan to deploy an additional 5,000 American soldiers to the countries adjacent to the Ukraine including the Baltic States (Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia) as well as Poland and Romania in a bid to counter a potential Russian invasion into Ukraine, the New York Times said on Sunday. Reportedly, Washington is considering deploying bombers to Germany and warships in the Black Sea as well.

Pundits say the Biden administration, which has minimized military response to avoid conflicts with Russia, is now playing the hand of dispatching more ground forces to Europe to stave off an impending Russian invasion. Quoting American administration officials, the NYT reported, “President Biden is considering deploying several thousand U.S. troops, as well as warships and aircraft, to NATO allies in the Baltics and Eastern Europe.” The size of a maximum 5,000 troops is comparable to the 6,000 American soldiers stationed in the Eastern Europe.

In a meeting on Saturday at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland, President Biden was debriefed by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on the several options that Washington can take against Russia’s invasion to Ukraine. The options included rotating 1,000 to 5,000 troops to the Baltic States and East Europe. Some of the troops will come from the U.S. while others would move from other parts of Europe. Notably, the Biden administration is reportedly considering a plan to increase the size of dispatchment tenfold in the event of Russian invasion.


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