Biden says he'll move troops to Eastern Europe

 
INA-Sources
 
President Joe Biden said Friday that he will move US troops to NATO allies in Eastern Europe in the "near term," marking a new phase in the US response to Russia's escalation on the Ukrainian border, which US officials fear could soon lead to an invasion.
 
"I will be moving US troops to Eastern Europe in NATO countries in the near term," Biden told reporters when asked about a timeline for moving the troops, adding that he did not have any updates on the situation in Ukraine.
As many as 8,500 US troops had been placed on heightened alert earlier this week to prepare to deploy to Eastern Europe -- including units with "medical support, aviation support, logistical support" and "combat formation," according to a Pentagon spokesman.
Biden's comments come hours after the top US military general, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, warned a Russian invasion of Ukraine would be "horrific" for the country and would result in "significant" casualties as he urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to choose a diplomatic path instead.
"Given the type of forces that are arrayed ... if that was unleashed on Ukraine, it would be significant, very significant, and it would result in a significant amount of casualties," Milley said at a Pentagon press briefing Friday. "You can imagine what that might look like in dense urban areas, along roads, and so on and so forth. It would be horrific. It would be terrible. And it's not necessary. And we think a diplomatic outcome is the way to go here."
Milley, who along with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin briefed reporters Friday on the US military's preparations, spoke of Ukraine's geography, noting that when its "high water table" freezes, "it makes it for optimal conditions for cross-country tract and wheeled vehicle maneuver."
"There are many people and highly dense population centers throughout Ukraine. And if war were to break out on a scale and scope that is possible, the civilian population will suffer immensely," he said.
 
Milley's remarks stand in contrast to the message coming from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Zelensky spoke to Biden by phone Thursday, where the two leaders disagreed on the urgency of the threat Russia poses, and Zelensky reiterated his view speaking in Ukraine Friday that the rhetoric risks causing panic and destabilizing his country's economy.
"They are saying tomorrow is the war. This means panic," Zelensky told reporters.
But Milley said that he thinks Russia's actions "feel different" than previous escalations. "This is larger in scale and scope in the massing of forces than anything we've seen in recent memory, and I think you'd have to go back quite a while into the Cold War days to see something of this magnitude," he said.
 
Source: CNN