WASHINGTON Jan 24 The United States is increasing the readiness of troops at home and abroad due to the situation around Ukraine, Defense Department spokesman John Kirby said. According to him, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin also put some military units in the United States on high alert for deployment to Europe. Their number reaches 8.5 thousand. <…> The bulk of these forces are ground,» Kirby told reporters. The representative of the department added that no decisions had yet been made on sending the military to Europe. Earlier, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that Washington is discussing with NATO allies the possibility of expanding its military presence on the eastern flank.In the United States, the threat of sanctions is considered an effective means to contain Russia. Today, the alliance has already issued an official statement, confirming the increase in its presence in Eastern Europe. In particular, Denmark is sending a frigate to the Baltic and four F-16 fighters to Lithuania, Spain is sending ships to Bulgaria, the Netherlands is sending two F-35 fighters to Bulgaria and putting the ship and ground forces on alert. France has declared its readiness to transfer forces to Romania. The actions of NATO members contradict Moscow's proposals for security guarantees, which were sent to Washington and its allies at the end of last year. The Kremlin insists on ending the bloc's military cooperation with the post-Soviet countries, refusing to establish bases on their territory, limiting the deployment of strike weapons near the Russian border, removing American nuclear weapons from Europe, and guarantees that the alliance will not expand eastward. A series of consultations on security guarantees took place in January. Even before the start of negotiations, Washington called some points of the document unacceptable, Moscow noted that this was not an ultimatum, but it would not make unilateral concessions, especially under pressure. .jpg» />January 12, 08:43InfographicDraft Security Assurance Agreement between Russia and NATOInfographicView
