American firepower lands in Poland as Senators call Ukraine tensions the 'biggest threat to Europe since 1945': Paratroopers and armored vehicles fill airports after China backed Putin in spat with NATO and US accused Russia of a 'false flag' operation
Some of the lethal military equipment the U.S. is moving into Eastern Europe was on display Friday, as the military positions the first of 3,000 troops meant to shore up NATO allies amid Russia's continuing troop buildup along the Ukrainian border.
More than 200 pieces of equipment including wheeled Stryker combat vehicles from the Army national Guard 1st Battalion, 185th Infantry regiment could be seen being unloaded at the port of Gdyna in Poland Friday.
The U.S. is sending 2,000 troops from the U.S. to Poland and Germany, where military already maintains a substantial presence, while repositioning another 1,000 troops to Romania.
The troops join roughly 4,000 that are already stationed in various parts of Poland, including hundreds of soldiers that are supporting a NATO mission, 50 miles from Russian-controlled Kaliningrad.
Military transport aircraft carrying U.S. soldiers and equipment also were seen landing in Poland.
The U.S. is moving heavy equipment into Poland as it brings 3,000 troops to shore up NATO allies amid Russia's troop buildup around Ukraine. An aerial view shows more than 200 pieces of equipment, including Strykers and wheeled vehicles from the U.S. Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 185th Infantry Regiment and equipment for upload from the 3rd Battalion, 161st Infantry Regiment, at the Port of Gdynia on February 04, 2022 in Gdynia, Poland
The administration has insisted the troops are not escalatory and are meant to reassure NATO allies the U.S. is sworn to defend under Article V of the NATO treaty, which President Biden calls a 'sacred obligation.'
The Pentagon has also put 8,500 troops on alert in the U.S. for possible deployments.
There are currently about 4,500 U.S. troops in Poland under a bilateral and NATO structure.
Russia has called the new deployments 'destructive,' even while amassing more than 100,000 of its own troops around Ukraine.
Russian forces carried out war games in Belarus, to Ukraine's north, on Friday, with an estimated 30,000 troops taking part in joint Russia-Belarus exercises this month.
But there were still prospects for diplomacy, with Russian diplomats still engaged with U.S. and western negotiators over its security demands.
The equipment comes as the U.S. is dispatching troops amid fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine
ON GROUND! February 4, 2022XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort BraggSoldiers assigned to the XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg arrive at Wiesbaden, Germany, February 4
NATO has enhanced its presence in the eastern part of the Alliance, with battlegroups in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland led by the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and the United States respectively
The equipment is part of the U.S. effort to bolster NATO allies
The XVIII Airborne Corps, which serves as America'sContingency Corps, will provide a Joint Task Force-capable headquarters in Germany, as 1,700 Paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division deploy to Poland
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Chinese President Xi Jinping Thursday, where they signed a joint statement calling on the west to 'abandon the ideologized approaches of the Cold War.' Xi also declared his opposition to NATO expansion in the joint statement. Putin has been seeking assurances that the U.S. would not bring in Ukraine as a member nation on its western border.
'The parties oppose the further expansion of NATO, call on the North Atlantic alliance to abandon the ideologized approaches of the cold war, respect the sovereignty, security and interests of other countries, the diversity of their civilizational and cultural-historical patterns, and treat the peaceful development of other states objectively and fairly,' according to the statement.
China said it 'understands and supports the proposals put forward by the Russian Federation on the formation of long-term legally binding security guarantees in Europe.
It also registered opposition to U.S. trade alliances in the region.
If Putin is gearing up for war, he wasn't showing it during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, where he appeared to fall asleep.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the opening ceremonies for the Olympics in Beijing
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, China February 4, 2022. Russia and China issued joint statement opposing NATO expansion
Sleepwalking towards war? Vladimir Putin had his eyes closed and hands folded as Ukraine's athletes arrived at the Winter Olympic Opening Ceremony in Beijing today
In this photo taken from video and released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, Feb. 4, 2022, a soldier takes part in the Belarusian and Russian joint military drills at Brestsky firing range, Belarus
Russian exercises with Belarus are set to run through the month
The Russian military exercises come as the U.S. hopes to head off an invasion through diplomatic talks
An MT-LB multi-purpose fully amphibious armored tracked vehicle (L) and infantry fighting vehicles take part in an exercise to test response forces of the Union State of Russia and Belarus at Brestsky firing range.
Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine's northern and eastern borders, raising concern that Moscow might invade again, as it did in 2014
The 1,700 soldiers join roughly 4,000 that are already stationed in various parts of Poland, including hundreds of soldiers that are supporting a NATO mission. Pictured: A U.S. Air Force Lockheed C-130J-30 Hercules transport aircraft lands at Jasionka Airport near Rzeszow
Around 1,700 U.S. troops touched down in Poland on Friday, near the Ukrainian border, where they will take up positions amid fears of a Russian invasion. Pictured: Military personnel are seen next to a U.S. Air Force Lockheed C-130J-30 Hercules transport aircraft after landing at Jasionka Airport near Rzeszow, Poland
A Mil Mi-24 helicopter of the Belarusian Air Force takes part in a joint training exercise with Russian troops on Thursday
Yakovlev Yak-130 aircraft of the Belarusian Air Force let off heat flares as they take part in training exercises in Brest, Belarus
Belarus Air Force Yak-130 trainer aircraft take part in military drills in the skies over Brest, Belarus, on Thursday
Mil Mi-8 helicopters of the Belarusian Air Force take part in joint war games with Russia in Brest, Belarus, on Thursday
A Russian tank fires its main cannon during joint war games currently taking place in Belarus, near the border with Ukraine
Mobile artillery units open fire during huge war games that are currently taking place in Belarus, amid tensions with Ukraine
A rocket explodes on a training ground in western Belarus, amid joint 'combat readiness' drills being carried out with Russia
Rocket artillery open fire during huge military drills taking place in Brest, Belarus, which began on Wednesday and are set to continue for at least another week
Belarusian tanks take part in live-fire drills on a training ground near Brest - part of huge joint war games with Russia which observers fear could be used to disguise an invasion
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave lawmakers a closed briefing Thursday amid the ongoing tensions.
'This is the most significant threat in Europe since 1945. It's just that simple,' Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said afterward. He called a Russian invasion a 'near certainty,' The Hill reported.
News of the soldiers' arrival came hours after the United States said it had evidence of a plan by Moscow to film a fake Ukrainian attack on Russians to justify an attack on its neighbor.
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said the US had 'information that the Russians are likely to want to fabricate a pretext for an invasion', but did not provide evidence.
Polish Defense Minster Mariusz Blaszczak announced the arrivals, saying: 'This is a strong signal of allied solidarity in response to the situation in Ukraine.'
The official announcement did not say where they had landed, but Stars and Stripes reported said they arrived in Rzeszow, a southeastern Polish that is around 45 miles from the country's eastern border with Ukraine.
The troops come from the storied 82nd Airborne Division, which has a wide range of capabilities and specializes in parachute assaults into areas that are otherwise unreachable.
It carries a U.S. Department of Defense requirement to be able to 'respond to crisis contingencies anywhere in the world within 18 hours,' its website says.
Pictures today from an airfield in Rzeszow confirmed this, showing a U.S. Air Force Lockheed C-130J-30 Hercules transport aircraft on the tarmac as U.S. troops disembarked.
Also in Poland, photographs showed more than 200 pieces of U.S. military hardware from the U.S. Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 185th Infantry Regiment and equipment for upload from the 3rd Battalion, 161st Infantry Regiment, being moved at the Port of Gdynia - found in the north of the country - on Friday.
In addition to the 1,700 troops the US is deploying to Poland, another 300 will be sent to Germany from the 18th Airborne Corps to create a joint task force capable headquarters to provide mission command in Germany.
Another 1,000 troops part of a Germany-based infantry Stryker squadron will reposition to Romania at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) closest flank to Russia. They will add to the 900 U.S. forces already in Romania
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