As many as 8,500 US troops have been put on alert for possible deployment to eastern Europe in response to Russian soldiers gathering on Ukraine’s border, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said today.
US officials have warned that Russia could launch an imminent invasion of Ukraine.
The “bulk of” the thousands of troops placed on heightened alert are planned to bolster the 40,000 multinational Nato troops already in a number of eastern European countries near the border with Russia, Mr Kirby said.
But he stressed that no final decision to deploy the troops had been made.
Nato allies have said that they are putting forces on standby and sending additional ships and fighter jets to eastern Europe.
Meanwhile, the White House press secretary Jen Psaki has said that the US government is in the process of refining its military plans for all possible scenarios in the Ukraine-Russia crisis.
She told reporters that the US “has never ruled out” the option of providing assistance to countries on Nato’s eastern flank “in advance of any invasion” of Ukraine.
