Pentagon states US not planning additional troop deployments to Ukraine
The United States has no plans to deploy additional troops to Ukraine at this time, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said at a press briefing on Jan. 18, amid fears of a further Russian invasion of the country.
“If we need to make decisions for force protection purposes, we’ll do that, but there are no planned additional rotations of troops to Ukraine at this time,” Kirby stated, adding that at the moment, members of the Florida National Guard had been deployed to Ukraine for training purposes.
The Pentagon spokesperson said that he had no additional information about further arms to be delivered to Ukraine, but confirmed that the United States is continuing to develop plans for defensive aid to Ukraine, including security assistance.
The CNN news channel on Jan. 19 reported that the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden is weighing new options, including providing more arms to Ukraine to resist a Russian occupation, so as to raise the costs for Russian President Vladimir Putin should he decide to invade the country.
Since October, Russia has been massing military equipment and troops at the Russian-Ukrainian border.
As of early December, about 100,000 Russian soldiers were deployed near the Russian-Ukrainian border and in the temporarily occupied territories in the Donbas, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said in Ukraine’s parliament on Dec. 3.
International media have speculated that Russia may invade Ukraine in early 2022, in an operation that could involve up to 175,000 Russian soldiers.
Both U.S. and European officials have expressed concern over the situation.
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