While we often think of Russia as the world’s most provocative nuisance, (particularly under the leadership of the ever-annoying Vladimir Putin), it appears as though this latest scuffle with Ukraine is getting might serious.
Not only has the world gone out of its way to warn the Kremlin against doing anything untoward in the general direction of Ukraine, it now looks as though the US is getting ready to put its metal where its mouth is.
The Biden administration is in the final stages of identifying specific military units it wants to send to Eastern Europe and writing up the military orders in an effort to deter Russia, which has massed tens of thousands of troops on the border with Ukraine, according to multiple US and defense officials.
No final decision has been made, but CNN reported that President Joe Biden discussed options for bolstering US troop levels in the Baltics and Eastern Europe with his top military officials during a briefing at Camp David on Saturday, according to a senior official.
The American intelligence community is convinced that something troublesome is on the horizon.
The potential troop deployments come amid US warnings that a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine could be imminent. The State Department on Sunday reduced staffing at the US embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine, with the departure of nonessential staff and family members out of “an abundance of caution.”
Putin has consistently suggested that the world is blowing all of this way out of proportion, but this feigning of innocence has not been well-received by world leaders.
