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."
Russia says US facing humiliation in Ukraine like in Vietnam
US set to send additional military personnel to Kiev
Russia: New US aid for Ukraine will fail to change military situation
VIDEO | Taliban press ahead with war on drugs
VIDEO | UK govt. Rwanda bill denounced as 'state-sponsored people trafficking'
VIDEO | Iran president visits Lahore, Pakistan’s cultural hub
North Korea: US military drills drive regional security into turmoil
UN agency chief for Palestinians urges probe into staff killings
200 days of Israeli war on Gaza and 200 headlines whitewashing genocide
VIDEO | 200 days of US-Israeli genocide
Iran’s security chief in Russia to underline Israel’s aggression
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
