Russia Slams US Military Moves In Europe as ‘Destructive Step’

By Staff, Agencies

The US decision to deploy more than 3,000 US troops in Germany, Poland and Romania is a “destructive step” that makes it harder to reach a compromise over Ukraine, Russia’s deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko said, as Moscow continues to build up its forces.

Grushko said the move by US President Joe Biden would “increase military tension and reduce scope for political decision,” and would “delight” Ukrainian authorities, who would continue sabotaging the Minsk agreement “with impunity.”

The Minsk agreements of 2014 and 2015 were designed to reach a political settlement in the east of Ukraine, including greater autonomy.

The US on Wednesday said it was sending 1,700 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to Poland, while a headquarters unit of about 300 from the 18th Airborne Corps will move to Germany and a 1,000-strong armored unit was being transferred from Germany to Romania.

The move follows Russia’s deployment of more than an estimated 125,000 troops within striking distance of the Ukrainian border, including nearly half of its available battalion tactical groups and support units.

Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby claimed that the US movements were “designed to deter aggression and enhance our defensive capabilities in frontline allied states. We expect them to move in coming days.”

Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday that Russia had been moving 30,000 combat troops and modern weapons to Belarus over the last few days, which is Moscow’s biggest military deployment to the country since the end of the cold war.

The deployment included Spetsnaz special operations forces, Su-35 fighter jets, dual capable Iskander missiles and S-400 air defense systems, Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels.