The first contingent of U.S. troops dispatched by President Biden to Europe has arrived. Members of the 82nd Airborne Division landed in southwest Poland on Sunday, near the border with Ukraine.
On Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden ordered nearly 3,000 extra troops to Poland and Romania to shield Eastern Europe from potential spillover from the Ukraine crisis. About 1,700 service members, mainly paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division, will deploy from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to Poland in coming days, U.S. Army sources have said.
In a separate posting, Reuters also reports on U.S. government officials also heading to Europe to collectively work on sanctions against Russian should it invade Ukraine.
The delegation, which includes Treasury, State and Commerce department officials, will travel to the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and Germany to meet with counterparts, the official said, as the United States prepares punitive actions against Russia if its military crosses into Ukraine.
Meanwhile, CNN reports U.S. intelligence is hearing grumblings from Russian officers who have doubts about a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Intercepted communications obtained by the US have revealed that some Russian officials have worried that a large-scale invasion of Ukraine would be costlier and more difficult than Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Kremlin leaders realize, according to four people familiar with the intelligence. Three of the sources said those officials include intelligence and military operatives. The officials have also grumbled about their plans being discovered and exposed publicly by western nations, two of the sources said, citing the intercepted communications.