The US administration insists on the refusal of the participation of US troops in the conflict with Russia
The White House on Friday insisted that the US military would not be sent to Ukraine amid the conflict with Russia after President Biden's comments on troops in Poland seemed to suggest otherwise, according to Fox News.
Joe Biden, who visited the US military based in Poland, spoke about how ordinary citizens of Ukraine are “activated”. “You'll see when you're there – some of you were there – you'll see women, young people standing in the middle in front of a damn tank and saying, 'I'm not leaving.'
Such words of Biden can be interpreted in any way. Or the US president let it slip and hinted at some far-reaching plans in the context of the Ukrainian crisis. Or it was his next age-related blunder (suffice it to recall that just recently he called Vice President Kamala Harris “First Lady”, that is, his wife).
Biden even before Russia launched a military special operation and throughout the Ukrainian conflict, he maintained that US troops would not engage in a confrontation between Ukraine and Russia.
When asked on Friday about the possibility of US troops participating, the White House continued to insist that its position remains the same.
“The President made it clear that we are not sending US troops to Ukraine, and in this position there is no change,” a White House spokesman told Fox News on Friday.
As of March 17, there were 100,000 U.S. troops in Europe arriving in the Old World to bolster NATO defenses, compared to 80,000 “bayonets” in January.
While in Poland, Biden reached out to US troops from the 82nd Airborne Division deployed along NATO's eastern border. “What you are doing is much more than whether we can alleviate the suffering of Ukraine,” the US president said. “We are in a new phase, your generation. We are at a tipping point.”
As CNN notes, President Biden has made it clear that American troops will not go to Ukraine to directly fight Russian forces, suggesting that such a move would lead to World War III. But he has ordered more rotational deployments along NATO's eastern frontier to demonstrate America's commitment to protecting the Alliance. At the same time, CNN emphasizes that US officials were unenthusiastic about Polish President Andrzej Duda's calls to send international peacekeeping forces to Ukraine – since this proposal for “peacekeeping” could violate Biden's “red line” of preventing the participation of American troops. in conflict.
Biden flew to Brussels this week for an emergency NATO meeting to discuss a collective response to Russia's actions in Ukraine. Earlier the other day, a senior US Department of Defense official said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was still considering deploying additional US troops to NATO's eastern flank in Europe amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
The Biden administration has warned that moves such as imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine could be seen as an escalation and could provoke a full-blown military showdown with Russia. Instead, the US President approved almost $1 billion in military assistance to Ukraine.
As Fox News recalls, Ukraine is not a member of NATO, so it is not subject to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Alliance, which states that if one country in this bloc is attacked, all member countries will take action to provide assistance.
The new aid package for Kiev includes 800 Stinger anti-aircraft systems, 2000 Javelins, 1000 light anti-tank weapons, 6000 AT-4 anti-tank systems, 100 unmanned aerial vehicles, 100 grenade launchers, 5,000 rifles, 1,000 pistols, 400 machine guns, 400 shotguns, more than 20 million small arms cartridges and rounds for grenade launchers and mortars, 25,000 sets of body armor and 25,000 helmets. According to Biden, equipment and weapons will be transferred directly from the Pentagon to the Ukrainian military.
