8,500 american troops on high alert for possible deployment to eastern
europe. uUS Pesident Joe Biden has said there is total unanimity with
european leaders over russia's troop buildup on its border with ukraine.
During crisis talks on monday, western powers agreed to unprecedented
sanctions against russia if it were to invade. The US has also put 8,500
troops on alert which russia said caused it great concern.
8,500 combat ready u.s troops are on standby, according to the Pentagon.
Defense secretary Lloyd Austin has placed 8,500 u.s troops on heightened
preparedness to deploy to eastern europe in case NATO activates its rapid
response force over tensions with Russia, the Pentagon announced monday.
They would only be used if nato decided to activate a rapid response force
or if other situations develop, according to Pentagon Press Secretary John
Kirby.
There are already plans to send fighter jets and warships to eastern europe
by some nato members including Denmark, Spain, France and the Netherlands.
US lethal aid which includes ammunition for frontline defenders arrived in
ukraine over the weekend. Kremlin officials claim that nato is an
existential threat and they want legal assurances that the alliance will not
expand eastwards including into neighboring ukraine.
On the other hand, the US said the issue at stake is russian aggression not
nato expansion.
The situation along the russia ukraine border remains tense as russia has
amassed an estimated 100,000 troops just across the divide while ukraine's
outnumbered military prepares to defend itself against a possible invasion.
Adding to the turmoil, the British Government revealed details on saturday
of what it called an alleged russian plot to install a pro-kremlin leader in
the ukrainian capital of Kiev.
The UK foreign office said it also had information that russian intelligence
services remained in contact with several former ukrainian politicians,
including an ex-prime minister. The information being released today shines
a light on the extent of russian activity designed to subvert ukraine and as
an insight into kremlin thinking, foreign secretary Liz Truss said in a
statement.
For months now, the ukrainians have been preparing a territorial defense
force of volunteers. they are training for a possible defense of Kiev. Marta
Usky, a doctor in her 50s who was a member of the group told the BBC, "of
course i'm nervous about this, because i am a non-violent person i have no
desire to see a conflict break out."
"In any case i should be prepared to defend the country if it gets started.
dangerous is how i.t consultant andre volkov in kiev described the
situation. It's a very tense situation right now and i'm making contingency
plans as he put it. i suppose we'll head to western ukraine to a place
that's safe, he added."
In 2014 Russia annexed crimea a ukrainian territory from ukraine. crimea
voted in favor of joining russia in a referendum that the west and ukraine
deemed illegal after russian forces seized control.
East ukrainian regions near russia's borders are also under the control of
rebels backed by moscow. as many as 14,000 people have died as a result of
that conflict which has yet to be resolved despite an agreement signed in
2015.
So, what is russia's issue with nato? Let's find out the answer
together
The Ukraine is a former soviet republic bordering both russia and the EU. it
is not a NATO member but it is a partner country. This means there is an
understanding that it may be allowed to join the alliance sometime in the
future.
Russia wants assurances from western powers that this will never happen,
something the west is not prepared to offer. The ukraine has a large
population of ethnic russians and close social and cultural ties to russia.
Strategically, the kremlin sees it as russia's backyard.
When ukrainians deposed their pro-russian president in early 2014, Russia
annexed ukraine's southern crimean peninsula. It also backed pro-russian
separatists who captured large swathes of eastern ukraine.
NATO did not intervene but it did respond by placing troops in several
eastern european countries for the first time. It has four multinational
battalion size battle groups in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland and a
multinational brigade in Romania.
It has also expanded its air policing in the baltic states and eastern
europe to intercept any russian aircraft which breach the borders of member
states. Russia has said it wants these forces out.
So what commitments has nato given Ukraine?
A serious and dear price for russia's invasion of ukraine, according to US
President Joe Biden has been made clear. nato has activated a rapid response
force and the united states has placed 8,500 combat ready troops on alert.
However the pentagon says these troops will only be deployed if nato does so
as well. It also stated that the troops will not be sent to ukraine.
Germany's foreign minister Annalena Baerbock has warned that any
additional military escalation would carry a high price for the russian
regime, economic, political and strategic.
"Allies must enact swift retributive responses including an unprecedented
package of sanctions," said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Meanwhile russia has launched a new military exercises near ukraine and in
annexed crimea as it accused the United States of ratcheting up tensions by
putting several thousand of its own troops on alert.
With the west already accusing russia of massing more than 100,000 soldiers
on the ukrainian border, the russian military said it had launched drills
involving 6,000 troops in the south and in the Crimean Peninsula annexed by
moscow in 2014. The drills involve combat firing exercises with fighter
jets, bombers, anti-aircraft systems and ships from the black sea and
caspian fleets, the ministry said.
The west is accusing russia of preparing a potential invasion of pro-western
ukraine and tensions with Moscow have reached levels not seen since the cold
war. after a long video call with european leaders on monday, US president
Joe Biden said there was total unanimity on how to deal with russia with
officials warning again of severe consequences if Moscow invades.
On the other hand, Russia denies it has any plans to invade ukraine where as
well as seizing crimea it has backed separatist forces in two breakaway
regions.
Moscow has instead accused the west of increasing tensions with deployments
and support for ukraine. Russia has put forward a list of security demands
including a guarantee that ukraine never be allowed to join NATO and that
alliance forces pull back in eastern european countries that joined the bloc
after the cold war.
The United States and NATO have rejected the demands and told Russia to
withdraw from ukraine's borders, warning that an attack will trigger
damaging economic sanctions as well as a beefed up NATO presence in eastern
europe.
