US troops land in Poland amid NATO’s military buildup in eastern Europe
A number of US troops have arrived in Poland as part of NATO’s military buildup in eastern Europe to increase further tensions with Russia.
The troops landed on Saturday in the Rzeszow-Jasionka airport near the Poland-Ukraine border amid US claims that Russia is planning to invade Ukraine. Moscow has denied the allegation.
"As announced, the first elements of the brigade battle group from the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army have arrived in Poland," a Polish military spokesperson announced on Saturday.
"The first batch has arrived at the airport in Jesionka” in southwestern Poland, said Major Przemyslaw Lipczynski, adding that most of a contingent of 1,700 US soldiers would come “soon”.
TV footage showed a camp and a fence set up at the G2A Arena in the nearby town of Jasionka.
The US army confirmed that the commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division, US Army Major General Christopher Donahue, had arrived in Poland.
Last week, the United States had announced it would deploy about 3,000 additional troops to eastern Europe to defend NATO against “aggression”.
The US started deploying troops to Eastern Europe after it said it no longer deemed the Russian troop buildup on the Ukraine border as an "imminent" threat.
At a press briefing on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki announced the decision and said the use of "imminent" was sending out a message US officials were not intending to send.
The decision to stop the use of "imminent" came after the description drew anger in Kiev last week, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy indicating frustration with the term.
Zelenskyy criticized the Western states for stirring up panic by warnings of an "imminent" Russian threat, saying the panic-triggering alerts are placing a heavy burden on the country's economy. "We don't need this panic."
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