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🚨Joe Biden is preparing to send thousands of US troops to eastern Europe and the Baltic states to deter a Russian invasion of Ukraine

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telegraph.co.uk/world-news/202…

➡️Amid growing tension, the Pentagon announced that 8,500 US-based soldiers were on “heightened alert” for deployment in the region after weeks of restraint

🗣️In a video conference call with European leaders, Mr Biden discussed the possible mobilisation of thousands of troops to Nato member states bordering Russia...

...with a further 45,000 on standby if the situation continues to deteriorate

🇷🇺Nato ramped up its response to Russian aggression, sending warships and fighter aircraft to shore up its eastern flank
telegraph.co.uk/world-news/202…

🇺🇦Jens Stoltenberg, Nato’s secretary-general, said more troops could also soon be deployed to countries near Ukraine.

The additional battlegroups would be unlikely to enter Ukraine in an event of a Russian invasion, but protect Nato members on its fringes

🇺🇸In a marked shift in strategy, the US said it was prepared to boost 4,600 Nato troops already in Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland before any further Russian activity.

Previously, the US had threatened to mobilise only if Russian troops crossed into Ukraine

🗣️“It’s clear Russia has no intention of de-escalating,” said John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman.

“We would like to deter Vladimir Putin from an incursion. We want to bolster the solidarity of the [Nato] alliance"

🔴The final decision on deploying the troops had yet to be taken, Mr Kirby added, saying that the orders simply reduced the time needed to get them into the field

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