Click to see the full-size image
Following no progress in diplomatic efforts of Russian and Western officials, the sides turned to their military power. Under the pretext of the alleged Russian invasion in Ukraine, NATO claimed putting its forces on standby and sending additional warships and fighter jets in eastern Europe.
According to the official statement released by NATO on January 24th, in the past days, a number of allies have made announcements regarding current or upcoming deployments.
- Denmark is sending a frigate to the Baltic Sea and is set to deploy four F-16 fighter jets to Lithuania in support of NATO’s long-standing air-policing mission in the region.
- Spain is sending ships to join NATO naval forces and is considering sending fighter jets to Bulgaria.
- France has expressed its readiness to send troops to Romania under NATO command.
- The Netherlands is sending two F-35 fighter aircraft to Bulgaria from April to support NATO’s air-policing activities in the region, and is putting a ship and land-based units on standby for NATO’s Response Force.
It was added that the United States has also made clear that it is considering increasing its military presence in the eastern part of the Alliance.
At the same time, the New York Times cited administration officials claiming that President Biden is considering deploying several thousand U.S. troops, as well as warships and aircraft, to NATO allies in the Baltics and Eastern Europe. The options include sending 1,000 to 5,000 troops to Eastern European countries, with the potential to increase that number tenfold if things deteriorate.
According to the report, the move would signal a major pivot for the Biden administration, which up until recently was taking a restrained stance on Ukraine, out of fear of provoking Russia into invading.
Loading of a batch of M141 BDM SMAW-D single-use grenade launchers at the US Dover Air Base (Delaware), 01/21/2022. Judging by the visible factory number, the weapons were made in 2011 Mauricio Campino / US Air Force
The U.S. “restrained stance” included the recent transfer of two batches of military equipment to the Kiev’s regime.
On the morning of January 22 and evening of January 23, the first two batches of an additional package of urgent US military assistance to the armed forces of Ukraine ($ 200 million), which was approved by US President Biden in December 2021, arrived at Kiev’s Boryspil airport. Shipments of military cargo weighing 90 tons on January 22 and 80 tons on January 23, including lethal weapons and ammunition, were delivered from the United States by Boeing 747-400 cargo planes of the National Air Cargo.
Meanwhile, the US State Department authorized the voluntary departure of its employees and members of their families from the embassy in Kiev.
The State Department also asked U.S. citizens in Ukraine to consider departing the country using commercial or other privately available transportation options. The State Department reissued its Level 4 Travel Warning for Ukraine, saying “Do not travel to Ukraine due to the increased threats of Russian military action and COVID-19.” Previously, the travel warning had also been at Level 4, due to COVID-19.
The British and Australian authorities followed the U.S. example.
However, Josep Borrell claimed that the EU is not planning to follow the United States in withdrawing family members of diplomats from Ukraine amid tensions with Russia.
“We are not going to do the same thing because we don’t know any specific reasons. But Secretary Blinken will inform us,” Borrell told reporters.
Click to see full-size image
