Soldiers from the United States Army's 18th Airborne Corps (USA) land at
Army Airfield in Wiesbaden, Germany, Friday (4/2/2022).
US troops unload vehicles and equipment from military transport aircraft.
The soldiers are the first of 2,000 US troops to be ordered to NATO
countries in Eastern Europe amid ongoing tensions between Washington and
Moscow over Ukraine.
According to US European Command, the soldiers will establish bases in
Germany, while 1,700 paratroopers with the Army's 82nd Airborne Division
head for Poland, which borders Ukraine.
In all, 2,000 troops from Fort Bragg in North Carolina will head to Europe
in the coming days.
Video footage showed troops disembarking their planes on Friday night and
unloading packages and military vehicles.
"The deployment is intended to deter and defend against any aggression from
the Russian military," the White House statement said.
The US accuses Russia of planning an attack on Ukraine. Moscow denies this
claim, and denies accusations by US intelligence agencies that Russia was
planning to carry out a "false flag" incident to justify such an attack.
The US says Ukraine should be allowed to join the NATO alliance, something
Russia has for decades considered an unacceptable threat to its security.
Throughout the negotiations, Moscow demanded that the US and NATO stop the
continued expansion of the Cold War-era alliance.
But leaders in Washington and Brussels refused to consider the move.
Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko called, "The US
deployment is a destructive step that will only please Ukraine's pro-Western
government, as well as increase military tensions and reduce the margins for
a political solution."
