• US troops set to deploy to Eastern Europe inside days.
• Scathing feedback about UK sign no temper for compromise.
• West fears Russia planning an invasion, which Moscow denies.

WASHINGTON/MOSCOW: The US will ship nearly 3,000 further troops to Poland and Romania to protect Eastern Europe from a possible spillover from the disaster over the massing of Russian troops close to Ukraine, US officers stated on Wednesday.

Russia has denied plans to invade Ukraine however signalled it was in no temper for compromise on Wednesday by mocking Britain, calling Prime Minister Boris Johnson “utterly confused” and accusing British politicians of “stupidity and ignorance”.

Moscow has deployed greater than 100,000 troops close to Ukraine’s borders and says it might take unspecified navy measures if its calls for are usually not met, together with a promise by NATO by no means to admit Kyiv.

A Stryker squadron of round 1,000 US service members based mostly in Vilseck, Germany can be despatched to Romania, the Pentagon stated, whereas round 1,700 service members, primarily from the 82nd Airborne Division, would deploy from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to Poland. 300 different service members will transfer from Fort Bragg to Germany.

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US President Joe Biden stated the deployment was per what he had informed Russian President Vladimir Putin: “As long as he is acting aggressively we’re going to make sure we can reassure our NATO allies and Eastern Europe that we’re there,” he stated, in accordance to media reviews on Twitter.

The target, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby stated, was to ship a “strong signal” to Putin “and frankly, to the world, that NATO matters to the United States and it matters to our allies”.

“We know that (Putin) also bristles at NATO, about NATO. He’s made no secret of that. We are making it clear that we’re going to be prepared to defend our NATO allies if it comes to that. Hopefully it won’t come to that.”

Poland’s Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak stated the US deployment was a powerful signal of solidarity. NATO Secretary-Common Jens Stoltenberg additionally welcomed it, saying the alliance’s response to Russia was defensive and proportional.

Efforts to attain a diplomatic resolution continued, regardless of some Western international locations describing Russia’s major calls for as non-starters and Moscow displaying no signal of withdrawing them.

Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron mentioned coordination of diplomatic efforts and plans to impose financial prices on Moscow ought to it invade Ukraine, the White Home stated. Macron stated he was planning to speak to Putin quickly too.

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Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is ready to go to his counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in Ukraine on Thursday after pitching Turkey as a mediator to ease tensions with Russia, whereas German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated he would meet Putin in Moscow quickly, with out giving a date.

The Kremlin stated Putin informed Britain’s Johnson that NATO was not responding adequately to its safety considerations. Johnson’s workplace stated he had informed Putin an incursion can be a “tragic miscalculation” and so they had agreed to apply a “spirit of dialogue”.

On Tuesday, Johnson had accused Russia of holding a gun to Ukraine’s head, drawing caustic remarks from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier than the decision with Putin. Johnson had rescheduled the decision to reply questions in parliament about accusations his workers violated COVID-19 lockdown guidelines.

“Russia and President Putin are open to communicating with everyone,” Peskov stated. “Even to someone who is utterly confused.”

Russia’s International Ministry mocked Johnson’s overseas secretary, Liz Truss, for saying in an interview that Britain was “supplying and offering extra support into our Baltic allies across the Black Sea” – two our bodies of water which can be on reverse sides of Europe — “as well as supplying Ukrainians with defensive weapons.” The UK International Workplace later stated she was itemizing separate geographic areas of help.

“Mrs Truss, your knowledge of history is nothing compared to your knowledge of geography,” Russian International Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova wrote in a weblog put up. “If anyone needs saving from anything, it’s the world, from the stupidity and ignorance of British politicians.”

Bear vs fox

A day earlier, in his first public feedback in regards to the Ukraine disaster this 12 months, Putin recommended Russia was being pressured to shield itself from US aggression.

Washington has stated it is not going to ship troops to Ukraine itself to protect it from a Russian assault, however would impose monetary sanctions on Moscow and ship arms to assist Ukrainians defend themselves.

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Russia, nonetheless Europe’s major power provider regardless of being below US and EU sanctions since annexing Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, brushes off extra sanctions as an empty menace.

Washington and its allies have rejected Russia’s two major calls for — that Ukraine be barred from ever becoming a member of NATO and that deployments of troops in jap European international locations that joined the alliance after the tip of the Chilly Conflict be rolled again.

Spanish newspaper El Pais launched what it stated was a leaked copy of a US response to Russian calls for, wherein Washington provided talks with Moscow on an settlement for either side to chorus from stationing offensive missiles or troops in Ukraine.

Washington might additionally present reassurance that it had no cruise missiles in Poland or Romania, and focus on steps to stop harmful incidents at air or sea, stated the doc, which appeared to be consistent with the general public US place.

“I have seen nothing to suggest these documents are not authentic,” State Division spokesperson Ned Worth stated.

“What we have conveyed … are proposals for further diplomatic engagement. This will require engagement in good faith, some concerted fairly technical discussions, if they are going to result in anything,” he stated.