About 300 newly deployed U.S. service members have arrived in Germany and set up a joint task force within 24 hours of getting the call to go, according to an Army statement on Saturday.
The forces from the 18th Airborne Corps out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, were sent to Wiesbaden, near Frankfurt, amid a buildup of Russian forces on the Russia-Ukraine border.
Meanwhile, Army Maj. Gen. Christopher Donahue, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, arrived in Poland, where the Pentagon has said it’s deploying components of an infantry brigade combat team.
The corps’ presence “serves to bolster existing U.S. forces in Europe and demonstrates our commitment to our NATO allies and partners,” Capt. Matt Visser, the unit’s spokesman, said in the statement.
Ron Klain, President Joe Biden’s chief of staff, said on Friday that a “united front” by NATO is the best way to steady the situation around Ukraine.
“I think a united front of the freedom loving countries of NATO, a united front of the NATO alliance, is the best thing we can do to try to prevent (Russian President Vladimir) Putin from making this horrific mistake,” Klain said Friday night on MSNBC.
Klain said the U.S. has “sent a very strong message publicly and privately” to Putin not to send combat forces across Ukraine’s border.
On Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron continued his busy round of diplomacy, holding calls with U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg.
The discussions were focused mostly on NATO unity and finding a diplomatic solution to what Johnson’s government in a readout called “Russian aggression.”
“The leaders discussed their work to strengthen NATO’s Eastern flank, ensuring that allies are fully defended against malicious Russian activity, wherever and however it might occur,” the Downing Street readout said.
