According to news reports that broke yesterday, the U.S. and UK are in discussions with other NATO members about additional troop deployments to the east, “as a show of support in the face of Moscow’s ongoing aggression,” three unnamed U.S. officials told CNN. Among the countries considering accepting the deployments are Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary. The deployments would number approximately 1,000 personnel to each country and would be similar to the forward battle groups currently stationed in the Baltic States and Poland.
This is another area where cracks are showing in NATO unity. An unnamed European diplomat said that the U.S. and UK are among those considering the new, pre-invasion deployments, but not all 30 NATO members are willing to go along. NATO allies have not been entirely on the same page about the severity of the threat, CNN says. CNN cites Germany’s refusal to supply arms to Ukraine as the prime example, but the French are reportedly characterizing British officials calling for more NATO military deployments as “alarmist.” French President Emmanuel Macron has been accused of undermining Western unity, reports the Guardian, by insisting that the EU can broker a de-escalation plan with Russian President Vladimir Putin in parallel talks to U.S.-led negotiations. “We mustn’t under-estimate the risk, we are extremely attentive and concerned, but we’re also concerned about not creating more volatility, “ a French official told France24.
