US deploys 3,000 troops to support Nato amid Ukraine-Russia crisis. Moscow calls move ‘destructive’
- The 3,000 US troops will boost allied forces in Germany, Poland and Romania
- Russian President Vladimir Putin has massed troops on Ukraine’s border for months
The United States deployed several thousand troops to bolster Nato forces in eastern Europe, as the leaders of France and Germany flagged trips to Moscow to address Western fears of an invasion of Ukraine.
With Russia refusing to pull back 100,000 troops poised on Ukraine’s borders, 1,000 US soldiers in Germany are being sent to Romania, and another 2,000 stationed in the United States are being flown to Germany and Poland.
In response, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said the move would make it harder for a compromise between the two sides, calling the US deployments “destructive steps, which increase military tension and reduce scope for political decision”.
Western powers have been engaged in intense diplomatic efforts – coupled with the threat of sanctions against Putin’s inner circle – to deter what they fear to be a looming invasion of ex-Soviet Ukraine, despite strenuous denials from Moscow.