The US does not rule out preparing more soldiers to deploy near Ukraine in the face of the threat from Russia

U.S does not rule out preparing more soldiers, beyond the 8,500 announced on Monday, before a possible deployment in Eastern Europe if necessary, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday, who pointed out that the US government does not rule out the possibility of place more forces on “high alert” in the coming days and weeks, in response to a question on this subject during an interview with the American television network CNN.

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That measure could affect some of the troops that the US has stationed in its bases on European soil. “They are already there to support our allies on the ground,” Kirby remembered.

On Monday, the Pentagon raised the tone before Russia and warned that he put 8,500 soldiers on “high” alert due to the increase in tension due to Ukraine, although no decision has yet been made on a deployment to eastern Europe.

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Kirby explained at a press conference on Monday that with this measure these military units, most of them on land, will be ready in less time in case Russia decides to advance towards Ukraine.

“We are not deploying them now, we are not saying that diplomacy is dead,” Kirby stressed, adding that being on “high alert” cuts the preparation time to deploy from ten to five days.

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Asked on CNN if those soldiers could be deployed to places other than allied territory, Kirby bluntly replied: “No, certainly not.”

“Our interest is to maintain security and stability on the European continent. We have tens of thousands of US forces deployed, either on a rotational basis or permanently, on the European continent. Security and stability there is in our own national security interest,” he said.

In parallel, he added that the US has sent three military assistance packages to Ukraine in recent days, and that there will be more to ensure that the Ukrainians can defend themselves.

And he stressed that his country currently has “a small group” of military trainers inside Ukraine, who have been there for months advising the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Tension has spiked in recent weeks over a possible Russian invasion or incursion into Ukraine, after Moscow mobilized some 100,000 soldiers on the Ukrainian border.

The Kremlin insists that it has no intention of attacking Ukraine and that all troop movements and military activities within Russian territory are a sovereign matter.

Currently, more than 60 Russian fighters and fighter-bombers are participating in missile-launching exercises in southern Russia, in the Crimean peninsula, annexed in 2014, and the Rostov and Krasnodar regions, close to Ukraine, the Russian Defense Office reported on Tuesday. press of the Russian military constituency South.

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