More than 8 thousand American troops are ready to be sent to the "eastern flank" of NATO, but not to Ukraine
Washington. January 28. INTERFAX - The United States will increase military assistance to Ukraine in light of Russia's continued buildup of armed forces on the Ukrainian borders, which is causing concern in Washington, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.
"We are only at the beginning of the delivery of a completely new package of funds to assist (Ukraine - IF). There were three deliveries. There will be even more in the future," he told reporters during a briefing.
Kirby noted: "We continue to observe, including in the last 24 hours, the growing number of reliable combat forces deployed by the Russians in the western part of their country and in Belarus."
A Pentagon spokesman recalled that he "recently mentioned Russia's naval power in the Mediterranean, in the Atlantic and, probably, in the Black Sea."
"This activity causes us concern about Russia's intentions, which, as before, are unclear," Kirby added.
In response to a question from one of the journalists regarding the Ukrainian request for the supply of air defense missile systems, Kirby said that a group of American experts "on the assessment of air and missile defense" had recently sent Ukraine, which studied the needs of the Ukrainian armed forces in such weapons.
"I think you can understand why we want to be careful in publicly advertising the opportunities that we provide to Ukraine, given the size, scale and forces that are directed against it on the other side of the border," he said.
Kirby informed that several airborne divisions of the US Army are among the military units put on high alert for possible deployment in Eastern Europe in the event of an aggravation of the situation in Ukraine.
By now, it is planned that 8.5 thousand American troops will be part of the NATO rapid reaction force of 40 thousand. They are a joint operational group of troops of a very high degree of combat readiness, combat aircraft, ships and special operations forces.
American units were "notified but not activated." They will be sent to the eastern flank of NATO, and not to Ukraine, which is not a member of the alliance, Kirby said.
He noted that currently about 200 National Guard soldiers are already stationed on the territory of Ukraine, who are located in western Ukraine, far from the eastern border. Their task is to train and advise the Ukrainian military.
