U.S. Announces Massive Military Expansion In Europe

Biden announces MASSIVE military expansion in Europe in response to string of Russian victories in Ukraine

Arsenio Toledo

In response to consistent Russian gains in Ukraine, President Joe Biden announced that the United States is significantly expanding its military presence in Europe.

Biden made this announcement during a summit with other North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members.

“We’re stepping up. We’re proving that NATO is more needed now than it ever has been,” said Biden at the opening of the summit. This announcement comes as other NATO members pledge to increase the number of military units they have on “high-readiness” sevenfold. (Related: Ret. Army Col. Douglas MacGregor says Russia has already won its war with Ukraine.)

Biden has ordered additional bases, soldiers and military assets to be set up in the United Kingdom, Spain, the Baltics and Eastern European countries like Poland and Romania.

A permanent headquarters for the U.S. Fifth Army Corps will be built in Poland. Romania will receive an additional brigade combat team – a unit made up of around 4,000 soldiers. The U.K. will receive two additional F-35 squadrons.

The number of destroyer warships stationed at a naval base in southern Spain will be increased from four to six. Italy will receive an additional short-range air defense battalion. Germany will receive an additional air defense artillery brigade.

More armored, air defense and special operations units will be deployed in rotation to the three Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

These additional deployments will add to the 100,000 troops and billions of dollars worth of military equipment America already has stationed in Europe.

“These forces – the first permanent U.S. forces in NATO’s Eastern Flank – will improve our command and control capabilities, interoperability with NATO and management of prepositioned equipment,” said the White House.

This also comes as formerly neutral states Finland and Sweden have finally secured a deal with final holdout Turkey to enter NATO, which Biden said will only make the organization stronger and all its members more secure.

In response to U.S. plans to move thousands more troops to Europe, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said the Kremlin will respond with “compensatory measures.”

“I think those who propose such decisions are under the illusion that they will be able to intimidate Russia and somehow restrain it. They won’t succeed,” said Ryabkov.