Ukraine crisis: Biden to deploy more US troops to eastern Europe

Joe Biden will deploy more than 3,000 US troops in Germany, Poland and Romania, as Russia continues to build up its forces around Ukraine, and after talks between Washington and Moscow failed to ease tensions.

The US is sending 1,700 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to Poland, a headquarters unit of about 300 from the 18th Airborne Corps will move to Germany and a 1,000-strong armoured unit is being transferred from Germany to Romania.

Kirby said the troops being deployed in the coming days were being sent under bilateral agreements with the host countries.

European diplomats, however, said that German caution in responding to the crisis was more an obstacle to a rapid activation of the NRF than Hungarian obstructionism.

The vanguard of the NRF has been under French command since January and its core is a 3,500-strong Franco-German brigade. The Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, welcomed the US deployments and said the alliance could take similar steps to bolster its eastern flank.

The decision to deploy US troops follows an exchange of documents between the US, Nato and Russia setting out their respective positions on European security, and a series of phone calls between the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.

According to a leaked copy of the US and Nato proposals, the US is ready to negotiate on limiting deployments of missiles in Europe and combat troops in Ukraine if Russia draws back its military and makes reciprocal commitments.