US troops set to land in Poland to reinforce NATO's eastern flank amid the standoff with Russia over Ukraine, reports say
The first main US forces are expected to arrive in Poland on Saturday, defense sources told Reuters, amid the standoff with Russia over Ukraine.
AP Photo/Chris Seward
- US troops are due to arrive in Poland on February 5 as tensions between Russia and NATO grow, Reuters reported.
- This arrival will come just one day after US military equipment arrived in Poland.
- Earlier this week, the Biden administration announced the deployment of nearly 3,000 US troops to Eastern Europe.
US troops are expected to land in Poland on February 5, as tensions between Ukraine and Russia mount, Reuters reports.
The information was given to the news site from anonymous sources, who said that the plans may change, but that US soldiers were due to arrive in Poland — which borders Ukraine and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad — on February 5.
On February 4, US military equipment started arriving in Poland in an effort to reinforce NATO's eastern flank as the Russian military presence at the Ukrainian border grows stronger.
Poland's Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak took to Twitter to say "this is a clear signal of allied solidarity."
—Mariusz Błaszczak (@mblaszczak) February 3, 2022
Blaszczak and the Pentagon said on Wednesday that 1,700 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, are earmarked to be stationed in Poland, but only on a temporary basis, Reuters reported.
This news of more troops comes soon after the Biden administration announced the deployment of nearly 3,000 American troops to Eastern Europe, including 2,000 being sent from Fort Bragg to Germany and Poland, with an additional 1,000 being moved from Germany to Romania, which borders Ukraine.
Insider's John Haltiwanger reported that these movements were to occur separately from the 8,500 US troops recently placed on high alert for a potential deployment to Eastern Europe.
—ABC News (@ABC) February 2, 2022
In making this announcement, John Kirby, the Pentagon's press secretary said "These are not permanent moves. They are moves designed to respond to the current security environment. Moreover, these forces are not going to fight in Ukraine."
Some US troops are already stationed in Poland, with the US Department of State saying that, in April 2021, around 4,500 troops were in rotation in the Eastern European country.