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US puts 8,500 troops on heightened alert amid Ukraine-Russia tensions
- The Pentagon says US forces ready to deploy to Europe at short notice
- Russia denounced Western response to its build-up of troops as ‘hysteria’
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US President Joe Biden declared “total” unity among Western powers after crisis talks with European leaders on deterring Russia from an attack against Ukraine, while the Pentagon said 8,500 US troops were put on standby for possible deployment to boost Nato.
“I had a very, very, very good meeting - total unanimity with all the European leaders,” Biden told reporters on Monday shortly after finishing am 80-minute video conference with allied leaders from Europe and Nato.
In London, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office also said “the leaders agreed on the importance of international unity in the face of growing Russian hostility”.
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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said “it is up to Russia to undertake visible de-escalation”, while Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned of “severe costs” if there is “any further aggression” by Moscow against Ukraine.
Also on the call were the leaders of France, Italy, Poland and the European Union.
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Despite insisting he has no intention of attacking, President Vladimir Putin has deployed some 100,000 troops close to Ukraine, where Russia already seized Crimea in 2014 and backs a separatist army in the east.
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