US puts 8,500 troops on heigh alert amid Russia worry

The Pentagon ordered 8,500 troops on higher alert to potentially deploy to Europe as part of a NATO response force amid growing concern that Russia could soon make a military move on Ukraine. President Joe Biden consulted with key European leaders, underscoring US solidarity with allies there.Putting the US-based troops on heightened alert for Europe on Monday suggested diminishing hope that Russian President Vladimir Putin will back away from what Biden himself has said looks like a threat to invade neighboring Ukraine. At stake, beyond the future of Ukraine, is the credibility of a NATO alliance that is central to US defence strategy but that Putin views as a Cold War relic and a threat to Russian security. For Biden, the crisis represents a major test of his ability to forge a united allied stance against Putin. 

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said that no troops are intended for deployment to Ukraine, which is not a member of the alliance but has been assured by Washington of continued US political support and arms supplies. The US force will deploy to  NATO territory in Eastern Europe as part of an alliance force meant to signal a unified commitment to deter any wider Putin aggression, he said Meanwhile,. Russia denies it is planning an invasion. It says Western accusations are merely a cover for NATO's own planned provocations. NATO has not made a decision to activate the Response Force, which consists of about 40,000 troops from multiple nations.That force was enhanced in 2014 the year Russia seized Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula and intervened in support of pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine by creating a spearhead force of about 20,000 troops on extra-high alert within the larger Response Force.