WASHINGTON, Jan 25 — President Joe Biden declared “total” unity among Western powers yesterday after crisis talks with European leaders on deterring Russia from an attack against Ukraine and 8,500 US troops were put on standby for possible deployment to boost Nato.
German Chancellor Olf Scholz said “it is up to Russia to undertake visible de-escalation,” while Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned of “severe costs” if there is “any further aggression” by Moscow against Ukraine.Despite insisting he has no intention of attacking, President Vladimir Putin has deployed some 100,000 troops close to Ukraine, where Russia already seized Crimea in 2014 and backs a separatist army in the east.
In Washington, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said a force of up to 8,500 US troops was on “heightened alert” for potential deployment to reinforce any activation of the Nato Response Force in the region, where there are growing fears of spillover from the Ukraine conflict. However, members of the 27-nation European Union have starkly differing approaches and ties to Russia, which supplies about 40 per cent of the trade bloc’s natural gas supplies.
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