Russia-Ukraine conflict: First US troops arrive in Romania

With fears of a military conflict with Russia and Ukraine happening, military forces in several countries have prepared for deployment or have been deployed in Eastern Europe. The first set of US troops has arrived in Romania this week.

Romanian Defense Minister Vasile Dincu confirmed that the first slate of US troops has arrived in the country. The deployment of US troops comes as the US looks to shield other nations in the region from the possible fallout of the crisis surrounding Russia and Ukraine. The Pentagon said that it will be relocating a Stryker Squadron of around 1,000 US troops from Vilseck, Germany to Romania.

The first set of US troops in Poland arrived over the weekend. Dincu told reporters that the first 100 American troops were handling logistics.

“The Americans have arrived,” said Dincu. “Over 100 Specialist US soldiers together with our logistics specialists are preparing, which means it will not be long before the rest of the troops arrive.”

The US currently has 900 troops stationed in Romania, which has been a NATO member since 2004 and hosts a ballistic missile defense system, some of which are part of NATO forces and others are part of separate bilateral agreements. 140 Italian soldiers and 250 Polish soldiers are also stationed in Romania.

France has also said it plans to deploy troops to Romania and has offered to be the nation leading a potential NATO mission, which may see around 1,000 soldiers from other countries. A decision may be made at the next NATO defense minister’s meeting that will take place in mid-February.

While Russia has repeatedly denied planning any sort of invasion of Ukraine, it remains to have thousands of troops stationed at the border the two countries share. Al Jazeera reports that Moscow is preparing to begin 10 days of military drills in Belarus as a show of strength that security experts believe is supposed to be a message to Kyiv and the West that it is serious about the potential for military conflict.

Russian military forces and weapons have already arrived at Belarus in January, with around 30,000 combat troops expected to take part in the drills called “Allied Resolve.”