US Sending 7,000 Troops to Germany

NATO says it's activating its 'defense plans,' reiterates it won't send troops into Ukraine

President Biden has ordered Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to send another 7,000 troops to Germany as the US is bolstering its forces in Europe in response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

The Pentagon said the deployment will consist of an “armored brigade combat team with associated capabilities and enablers” that will deploy to Germany in the “coming days.”

During a speech Thursday, President Biden reiterated that the US is not sending troops into Ukraine to fight Russia. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also stated that the alliance wouldn’t be entering Ukraine.

But the US and NATO are bolstering their forces in Eastern Europe in countries that border Russia and Ukraine. On Tuesday, President Biden ordered troops that were already in Europe to move further east to the Baltic states. As part of this deployment, some US troops that were stationed in Italy are arriving in Latvia.

A Pentagon official told The Hill that US troops who are temporarily stationed in Poland and Romania are preparing to help evacuees crossing into the countries from Ukraine. The US has sent 4,700 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to Poland.

Stoltenberg said NATO is activating its “defense plans” in response to Russia’s offensive. Details of the plan aren’t clear, but he said it includes elements of NATO’s 40,000 troop-strong rapid response force, and it likely means more NATO troops will be deployed to Eastern Europe.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.