A senior defense official says President Joe Biden has approved the deployment of 3,000 more U.S. troops to Poland.
They will join 1,700 other members of the 82nd Airborne Division who have been heading to Poland in recent days. Combined, the 4,700 soldiers comprise an infantry brigade intended to reassure fellow NATO member Poland of a U.S. defense commitment amid the crisis in neighboring Ukraine.
As CNN reported, a person familiar with the plan said that President Biden will speak with Russia's Vladimir Putin on Saturday. National security adviser Jake Sullivan said the two leaders will speak by phone.
The additional U.S. troop deployment comes as the White House warns that Russian President Vladimir Putin could launch an invasion of Ukraine any day now.
Earlier on Friday President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, warned all American citizens in Ukraine to leave the country as soon as they can. Sullivan issued the public warning saying Russia's President Vladimir Putin could instruct his troops to invade Ukraine at any time.
The announcement that the U.S. would be sending thousands of additional troops came just after that public warning to American citizens.