Pentagon Puts 8,500 Troops on Alert to Bolster NATO Near Ukraine
- Troops needed if alliance activates response force: spokesman
- ‘There is time and space’ for diplomacy still, Kirby says
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The U.S. is putting as many as 8,500 troops on heightened alert for deployment to bolster NATO forces in Eastern Europe if needed as Russian troops mass on Ukraine’s borders, offering a show of military force alongside diplomatic efforts to defuse the crisis.
“It’s very clear that the Russians have no intention right now of de-escalating,” so it makes “prudent sense” to give U.S. military personnel time to prepare if NATO activates its Response Force along the alliance’s eastern flank, Defense Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters Monday at the Pentagon.