Biden Admits 80,000 US Armed Forces Personnel Are in Europe to ‘Deter Russia’
Outgoing US President Joe Biden reported to Congress on the presence of 80,000 American troops in European countries, sent there to deter alleged Russian aggression.
“Approximately 80,000 United States Armed Forces personnel are assigned or deployed to North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries in Europe, including those deployed to reassure our allies and to deter further Russian aggression,” Biden said in a letter to the leaders of both chambers of the US Congress.
In recent years, Russia has witnessed unprecedented NATO activity near its western borders. Moscow has repeatedly expressed concern about the bloc’s buildup of forces in Europe, especially since the bloc supported the Kiev regime amid its attacks on Donbass.
NATO has transformed its eastern flank from having no combat-ready troops in place in 2014 to tens of thousands now, former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg admitted earlier.
In February, Russian President Vladimir Putin explained in detail in an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson that Moscow is not going to attack NATO countries, there is no point in it. The Russian leader noted that Western politicians regularly intimidate their populations with an imaginary Russian threat in order to distract attention from domestic problems.