The United States will send more than 10,000 soldiers to Europe, who are expected to replace forces deployed to the region following Russia’s attack on Ukraine, many positioned along the “eastern flank”NATO’s military bloc.
John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesperson, confirmed that there was a deployment. He also noted that it had been approved by the Secretary of Defense. “security environment has now changed”Due to conflict in Ukraine, there are currently no residents in this region.
“The deployments are one-for-one unit replacements, which will leave our overall force posture in the region – approximately 100,000 – unchanged,”Kirby spoke to reporters. “The units being replaced will return to their home station following an appropriate turnover of responsibilities.”
According to the spokesperson, troop turnovers should continue all summer. He said that the military might soon be able to do so. “take a look at the permanent footprint in Europe and make an assessment”It is not clear if it should be maintained at current levels. However, no decision has been made.
The US had around 80,000 troops in Europe before Moscow invaded Ukraine in February. Others were deployed on rotating training missions with NATO members.
Some members of the alliance (e.g., Lithuania in Baltic) have been pressing for an increase and sustained American troop presence over recent months. US officials suggested ways that they could meet these demands, including building new bases.
“My advice would be to create permanent bases, but don’t permanently station [US troops],”Last month, General Mark Milley was the chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff. This would effectively mean deployments for the long term, as he claimed. “rotational forces”It could be repeated “permanent bases.”
“And I believe that a lot of our European allies … they are very, very willing to establish permanent bases,”Milley was added. “They’ll build them, they’ll pay for them.”
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