In response to Russia's actions in Ukraine, the United States took a number of strategic steps. On Tuesday (22/2/2022), US President Joe Biden announced the redistribution of troops in Europe.
This includes sending 800 infantry troops to the Baltic region and eight F-35 fighter jets to several operations locations along NATO's eastern flank.
According to a Reuters source who was a US official who asked not to be named, the United States will also send 32 AH-64 Apache attack helicopters to the Baltic region and to Poland from locations in Europe.
"These additional personnel are being repositioned to reassure our NATO allies, deter potential aggression against NATO member states, and train with host nation forces," the senior US defense official said.
He added that no new troops had come from the United States.
US imposes sanctions on Russian banks and elite
Not only that, Biden also revealed new sanctions against Russia's elite and two Russian-owned banks as the West tries to halt an all-out invasion of Ukraine by punishing Moscow for ordering troops into the two separatist territories it has recognized.
The European Union, Germany and Britain also announced ways they could financially punish Russia as they feared further Russian attacks.
One of Europe's worst security crises in decades is underway as Russian President Vladimir Putin orders Russian troops into eastern Ukraine to "maintain the peace."
Washington has dismissed the action as "bullshit" and said it was justification for deploying troops to the Donetsk and Luhansk regions after Moscow recognized them as independent territories.
Both border Russia and have been controlled by Russian-backed fighters since 2014.
Weeks of intense diplomacy have so far failed as Moscow calls for security guarantees, including promises that its neighbor Ukraine will never join NATO. Meanwhile, NATO members offer trust-building and arms control measures to Putin.
"Simply put, Russia has just announced that they are carving out large parts of Ukraine," Biden said Tuesday at the White House.
“He made excuses to take more territory by force,” Biden said. "This is the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine."
Responding to Russia not withdrawing its troops from Belarus to northern Ukraine, Biden said he had allowed additional movement of US troops and equipment already in Europe to strengthen Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
"Let me be clear, this is a really defensive move on our part. We have no intention of going against Russia," he said. "We want to send a clear message that the United States, along with our allies, will defend every inch of NATO territory."
