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Biden Formally Approves U.S Troops to Europe Amid Russia Threat; Pentagon Update as Biden Approves Sending New U.S. Troops to Europe. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired February 02, 2022 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[10:00:05]

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN NEWSROOM: We'll listen in when the mayor speaks about Officer Wilbert Mora.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN NEWSROOM: Look at that show of support down 5th Avenue, just remarkable.

But, first, to that new s of additional U.S. troops expected to deploy to Eastern Europe. CNN White House Reporter Natasha Bertrand, also CNN Military Analyst Lieutenant General Mark Hertling and Ambassador Stephen Pfeiffer, he's former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine.

Natasha, first, tell us what we know about where exactly these troops are going, the intention here to shore up those eastern flank of NATO allies.

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, Jim. So, CNN breaking the news this morning that President Biden, after a lengthy meeting yesterday with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Mark Milley, and with his defense secretary, General Lloyd Austin, did decide to formally sign off on these troop deployments to Eastern Europe.

Now, about 2,000 of those troops, we're told, are going to go Poland and another kind of several hundred are going to go to Romania, as well as to other countries in that southeastern flank of NATO.

The reason for this is because of the anxiety that these allies are feeling amid this massive Russian troop buildup near Ukraine.

Now, the president did hint at this last week. He told reporters that he would be moving those troops to Eastern Europe in the short term, in the near term, but he did not say when that would be happening. We are told that these deployments could be coming in the coming days, and that is what the Pentagon is expected to announce this morning.

So, what we're told is that this is coming at a time when these allies are feeling very, very anxious about this Russian aggression there, and this is a show of support for those allies. This is not a precursor to any kind of U.S. troops on the ground in Ukraine. This is just those troops going to Eastern Europe to kind of shore up that flank and reassure them that the U.S. is there in the event that Russia does invade Ukraine and tries to move even further west, Jim.

GOLODRYGA: Ambassador, let me bring you in here, because I'm just -- we're actually --

SCIUTTO: We're going to take you live to the Pentagon now because this Pentagon Spokesman John Kirby announcement. Let's have a listen in.

JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: I think, as you heard Secretary Austin just last Friday in his remarks with the chairman here in the briefing room, we remain focused on the evolving situation in Europe and Russia's actions on the Ukrainian border and in Belarus. As the secretary said, the United States stands shoulder to shoulder with our NATO allies.

The current situation demands that we reinforce the deterrent defensive and posture on NATO's eastern flank. President Biden has been clear that the United States will respond to the growing threat to Europe's security and instability. Our commitment to NATO, Article 5 and collective defense remains ironclad.

As part of this commitment and to be prepared for a range of contingencies, the United States will soon move additional forces to Romania, Poland and Germany. I want to be very clear about something. These are not permanent moves. They are moves designed to respond to the current security environment. Moreover, these forces are not going to fight in Ukraine. They are going to ensure the robust defense of our NATO allies.

Now, let me lay this out for you in a series of three steps. First, 1,000 soldiers that are currently based in Germany will reposition to Romania in the coming days. This is a striker squadron, a mounted cavalry unit that's designed to deploy in short order and to move quickly once in place. And they will augment the sum of 900 U.S. forces that are currently in Romania.

Now, this force is designed to deter aggression and enhance our defensive capabilities in frontline allied states. We expect them, as I said, to move in coming days. Secretary Austin discussed this repositioning to Romania just last week in his conversation with the Romanian minister of defense. And, again, I want to stress that this move is coming at the express invitation of the Romanian government.

Additionally, we welcome French President Macron's announcement that France intends to deploy forces to Romania under NATO command, which Secretary Austin discussed with the French defense minister, Florence Parly, just last week. The United States will continue to consult and coordinate with France and all our allies to ensure that we complement each other in our respective deployments. And, of course, we're going to continue to work through NATO to make appropriate defensive and non-escalatory force posture alignments.

Second, we are moving an additional force of about approximately 2,000 troops from the United States to Europe in the next few days. The 82nd Airborne Division is deploying components of an infantry brigade combat team and key enablers to Poland and the 18th Airborne Corps is moving a joint task force-capable headquarters to Germany.

[10:05:11]

Now, both of them, as you know, are based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Collectively, this force is trained and equipped for a variety of missions to deter aggression and to reassure and to defend our allies. Not surprisingly, we worked very closely with our Polish and German allies to set the stage for these movements and we absolutely appreciate their support.

Again, these are not permanent moves. They respond to current conditions. We will adjust our posture as those conditions evolve.

Third and finally, all of these forces are separate and in addition to the 8,500 personnel in the United States on heightened alert posture that I announced last week. Those 8,500 are not currently deployed but remain ready to move if called for the NATO response force or as needed for other contingencies, as directed by the secretary or by President Biden. We continue to review our force posture in the situation in Europe, and we will make adjustments as the situation warrants.

I also want to take this opportunity to correct some misconceptions around last week's announcement. NATO, as an organization, does not have veto power over U.S. troop deployments and media reports to the contrary is represent a mischaracterization of that.

Nothing precludes the United States from making its own decisions on force movements, including those forces that are being placed heightened readiness. That said, any movement of U.S. forces involves consultation with the host nation, as we have done with Romania and Poland and Germany prior to today's announcements. And we're mindful of the competing needs of operational security and our obligation to be transparent, and we'll provide you additional information on these and other movements as available and as appropriate.

As we long have said, we are continuously reviewing our posture, so there may soon be additional posture decisions to announce, including movements that are part of ongoing military exercises. This is not the sum total of deterrence actions we will take or those to reassure our allies I think it won't surprise you that we take a theater-wide approach to deterrence and defense, and we welcome the additional announcements by Spain, Denmark, the U.K. and the Netherlands of their consideration to deploy additional forces to reinforce NATO's eastern flank. The United States has robust capabilities distributed across Europe, including in the Baltic region, and we will continue to assess needs in that area in cooperation with the relevant allies and, of course, a full NATO alliance. We stand united. We have said that repeatedly. We say it again today. These movements are unmistakable signals to the world that we stand ready to reassure our NATO allies and defend against any aggression.

Now, as the secretary said Friday, we do not know if Russia has made a final decision to further invade Ukraine. But it clearly has that capability. The Department of Defense will continue to support diplomatic efforts led by the White House and the State Department to press for resolution. We do not believe conflict is inevitable. The United States in lock step with our allies and partners has offered Russia a path to deescalate. But we will take all prudent measures to assure our own security and that of our allies.

And finally just one note, I note that in the past few hours, a proposal made by the United States leaked to a European news outlet. We did not make this document public. But now that it is, it confirms to the entire world what we have always been saying. There is no daylight between our public statements and our private discussions. NATO and its partners are unified in their resolve and open to constructive and serious diplomacy. The United States has gone the extra mile to find a diplomatic solution. And if Russia actually wants to negotiate a solution, as it claims it does, this document certainly makes clear that there is a path forward to do so.

And with that we'll take questions starting with you, Lita (ph).

REPORTER: Hi, John, thanks. Just a couple of details on some of this. Is it still 8,500 total that are on -- compared to deployed orders or are there additional ones?

And there is a brigade at Fort Carson that already is scheduled to rotate into Europe. Are you including them? There's been some confusion. Are you including that Carson brigade in the prepare to deploy orders or are they completely separate because they're an already scheduled deployment?

[10:10:01]

And then one other -- are there more -- are these troops that are going, are they under NATO or are these all unilateral U.S. moves? Thank you.

KIRBY: Let me see if I can remember all those. The troops that I'm talking about today will be going under U.S. command. But as I said, in the case of Romania, we know the French are going to be preparing to deploy troops there. We will find ways to complement that force presence, again, in full consultation with Romania. So, I wouldn't describe these as unilateral moves. I mean, this is a bilateral arrangement between the United States and Romania. But to your question, they will be going under U.S. command.

The 8,500, they still remain on prepare to deploy orders. As I said when I talked about last Monday, the vast majority of them are designed for a NATO response force. As I said in my opening statement, that force has not been activated, so they aren't going anywhere.

The secretary has, as you might imagine, as we have worked towards these troop movements, there have been additional forces put on prepare to deploy orders or shortened tethers. I'm not prepared to go into great detail today about that, but yes, there have been additional ones. And as I said in my opening statement, you can expect that that could continue to happen going forward. We're going to constantly look at the conditions in the region and consult with allies and partners. And if we feel we need to make additional forces more ready, we'll do that. If we feel that we need to send more forces to certain eastern flank countries, we'll do that too in full consultation with NATO and in full consultation with the specific allies and partners.

And I think I missed one of your questions, Lita (ph).

REPORTER: Well, I just wanted --

KIRBY: I'm going to have to take that one, Lita (ph), because I don't have the breakdown of every single unit in that original 8,500 in front of me. So, let me just take that rather than speculate and guess.

Jen?

REPORTER: john, do you have any evidence that Putin plans to move beyond Ukraine's borders? Why are you bolstering these eastern flank allies if you do not have evidence of that?

KIRBY: Because it's important that we send a strong signal to Mr. Putin, and frankly to the world, that NATO matters to the United States, it matters to our allies. And we have ironclad Article 5 commitments. An attack on one is an attack on all. And so we know that he also bristles at NATO, about NATO, and he has made no secret of that. We are making it clear that we're going to be prepared to defend our NATO allies if it comes to that.

Hopefully, it won't come to that. Nobody wants to see -- as I said, conflict is not inevitable. There is no reason for there to be ongoing conflict in Ukraine or anywhere else in the European continent, and Mr. Putin can go a long way to serving that end by taking seriously the proposals that we have put forward diplomatically and by deescalating through moving some of those troops away.

REPORTER: But is there anything evidence that he plans -- that anything you're seeing that suggests those troops that are outside Ukraine might carry on to Poland, Romania?

KIRBY: What we see, Jen, is clear evidence every day that he continues to destabilize the environment by adding more forces into western part of his country and along Belarus, in addition to additional naval activity in the North Atlantic. So, he clearly is providing himself many options, lots more capabilities. For exactly what purpose, we don't know right now. And because we don't know exactly what his purpose is, we want to make sure we're ready on the NATO front to defend our allies. Barbara?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: I want to follow up on Jen's question. You said in the beginning the current situation demands we reinforce. So, what specifically demands the reinforcement that you are laying out today? And the reason I ask this, this is bilateral, as you said. Originally you spoke at length several days ago about the NATO response force. They have not activated that. You were moving ahead bilaterally, not under a NATO umbrella, anyhow.

So, what signal does that send that you're not waiting for a NATO vote and what is the current situation that demands this reinforcement outside of Russia, outside of Ukraine? I don't think I heard a specific answer.

KIRBY: I think the signal it sends that we're moving additional U.S. forces into allied territory at the request and with the invitation of those countries is that we take our NATO commitments very, very seriously.

[10:15:08]

And I put that right in the opening statement. And as for -- I think your question is why now --

STARR: I don't understand -- I'd like an explanation why you're doing this now without a vote at NATO, which does not appear readily apparent for them to activate the response force. What has led you to say, okay, the United States will act on a bilateral basis, you have the invitations, you could have waited for a NATO vote, you decided not to. So, what is the --

KIRBY: It's not just us, Barb, other nations. And I mentioned Denmark, the U.K., France, I mean, other NATO nations are likewise discussing in bilateral ways with eastern flank nations the addition of forces and capabilities to those nations. So, it's not just the United States, it's other NATO allies that are doing this.

And you talk about this vote thing. Let's be clear. What I think you're getting at is the NATO response force. That's a 40,000-person- strong force that is designed for high readiness, and that is a decision that the alliance and only the alliance can make. We have a contribution to that. We have gotten those forces a alerted, to be ready to go if needed, and they still will be.

We also can, if the president decides as commander-in-chief, to take some of those alerted forces and move them in a bilateral arrangement as well, he can do that. As I said at the top, it's not like the alliance has a veto authority on any of those troops that were put on prepare to deploy.

But in terms of why now, here's just a couple of factors. Mr. Putin continues to add forces, combined arms, offensive capabilities. Even over the last 24 hours, he continues to add in Western Russia and in Belarus, and, again, as I said, in the Mediterranean and the North Atlantic. He has shown no signs of being interested or willing to deescalate the tensions. And it's not just the United States that's noticed this, our NATO allies have noticed this. And we have been constant communication and consultation with them, and they have expressed their concerns. We have shared our perspectives on what we're seeing with them, they have shared their perspectives on what they're seeing with us.

And as a result of these bilateral discussions, we are now prepared to make these moves. I say again two things, these are temporary moves, not permanent deployments, not permanent basing, and two, we are not ruling out the possibility that there will be more coming up in future days and weeks.

STARR: So, my last question, the bottom line here is you cannot, the United States, the Pentagon, the White House, you right now could not rule out the possibility that Putin could make a move outside of Ukraine into an East European country that's NATO-friendly with the U.S. and ally. You can't rule out that he's going to make an additional move beyond Ukraine?

KIRBY: We're not ruling anything in or out with this announcement, Barb. This isn't about an intel assessment about what Mr. Putin will or won't do. As I said again in my opening statement, we still don't believe he's made a decision to further invade Ukraine. And if he does further invade Ukraine, obviously, there's going to be consequences for that, but he has many options and capabilities available to him as to how he might do that. And we simply don't know.

We want to make sure that he knows any move on NATO is going to be resisted and it's going to trigger Article 5 and we're going to be committed to the defense of our allies. And that's what this is all about.

Yes, David?

REPORTER: When President Biden previewed this last week and he said he would be sending forces in the near term, he also said not a lot. Do you consider 3,000 not a lot? And how does adding 1,000 troops, infantry troops, stop the kind of force that you've been describing that Russia has been amassing in Western Russia and Belarus?

KIRBY: We think that these orders that the secretary is giving today are very much in keeping with the president's comments.

And to your other question, I remind again that we hold the option open of additional force movements if that's desired and needed. So, the steps I'm talking about today could very well be preliminary steps to future ones that we might take.

And to your other question about, you know, is that enough, again, I think it's worth reminding that Romania, as a sovereign state, has their own military and a very capable one at that.

[10:20:07]

And it's not just the United States sending a striker squadron. As I said earlier, the French are going to be sending additional troops out. I'll let them speak to what they're going to do and what timeline and how much. And as I also said in my opening statements, other countries are likewise moving forward to provide bolstering capabilities to NATO allies on the eastern flank.

REPORTER: How long will it take these troops to get into position, and do you expect the infantry combat team from Fort Bragg to jump in?

KIRBY: I'm not going to talk about the specifics of their movement, but as I said in my opening statement, we expect them to start moving in coming days. I don't have a more specific timeline for you in terms of exact departure date and exact arrival. Obviously it will be -- it will be obvious when they get there, and certainly we'll try to keep you informed all the way. Court?

REPORTER: You've made it clear several times that these troops won't be brought into Ukraine and they won't be combat. But can you rule out that any of these troops, specifically some from the 82nd Airborne might be brought into Ukraine in the coming days to help with a non- combatant evacuation? Is that possible that they could be used for that?

KIRBY: As I think you heard the secretary say on Friday, our troops are multi-mission capable, and they will be prepared for a range of contingencies, and I won't go any further than that.

REPORTER: Is that why the 82nd was specifically was identified as one of the units to go forward early? Is that because of that capability, because --

KIRBY: They are, as you know, a ready force. They are already at a heightened state of alert. That's the reason for that force. And they are multi-mission capable. They can do a lot of things. It's a very versatile force. And I think their versatility, their ability to move quickly and to conduct a range of missions across a range of contingencies, which is well proven, that's the reason why the secretary has ordered them to go, okay?

Let me get -- I promise I'll get to everybody, but I haven't done -- other than Lita (ph), I haven't done anybody on the phone and I need to do that. Sylvie (ph)?

REPORTER: Thank you. I would like to know how many soldiers you're going to send to Poland. Because you said 2,000 from U.S. to Germany and Poland. So, how many soldiers will you have in Poland all in all?

KIRBY: The majority of the 2,000 that will be moving from Fort Bragg will be going to Poland. The 18th Airborne Corps, as I said in my opening statement, that's going to Germany, that they're going to form a joint task force headquarters. And that's usually depending on the need and the task at hand, several hundred people. So, the majority of the 2,000 that I mentioned that comprise the 82nd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, that leading element, they will be going to Poland.

Kelly from News Nation.

REPORTER: Hi, John, thanks for taking my question. I know you said we will adjust posture as conditions evolve. I was curious because we're seeing ordinary Ukrainians, teachers, moms, dads, dentists learning to use guns to defend themselves. There are calls on Washington for the Pentagon to support them. Are any of these troops going to help them? And how will the president's order change the mission of the Florida National Guard troops currently in Ukraine?

KIRBY: As I said at the top, Kelly, the president is being clear and I think we made it eminently clear in my opening statement, these troops will not be going to Ukraine to participate in the defense of Ukraine. The president has been very clear about that. These forces are going to reassure and to bolster capabilities inside NATO's eastern flank.

And as for the Florida National Guard, trainers, they are still in Ukraine. There's been no decision to change their status. They are still there providing advice and assist to Ukrainian armed forces. And if and when there is a need to make a different decision about their presence there, the secretary will absolutely do that in consultation with the European commander, General Walters, but no decision has been made yet.

Tony Capacio (ph)?

REPORTER: Hey, John. When you say it will be obvious that the 82nd Airborne arrives, I want to piggyback on David Martin's question, is likely they're going to parachute in as symbolic drop to send a message to Putin?

KIRBY: Yes. Again, I don't -- I'm not going to talk about their travel there and how they're going to arrive.

[10:25:00]

I don't anticipate it will be a tactical operation in that regard though, Tony.

REPORTER: Did you just rule it out?

KIRBY: David, I said I don't expect it's not going to be some sort of tactical operation, but I don't have additional information today about that. And, quite frankly, I'm not sure that that's all that relevant. They're going and they're going to bolster our capabilities in NATO, and that's the most important part here.

REPORTER: You just seemed to say, no. Did you say, no?

KIRBY: David, I didn't say no. I said I don't expect that there will be some sort of tactical operation here.

REPORTER: Who will command these troops? Is it General Walters? And is that splitting his role as--

KIRBY: He already has a split role as a supreme ally commander in Europe. Ultimately, he will be at the top of the chain of command for them while they're in Europe. I don't have more additional information about the C2 arrangement right now, but we can get that. Let me go back to the phones here. Tara Cupp (ph)?

Nothing heard. Carla Bab(ph)?

REPORTER: I'm sorry, John, I'm on. I didn't unmute myself.

Can you talk about whatever additional airlift capacity might be needed to shift these troops and what role mobility command would play in this?

KIRBY: I don't have specifics on the airlift here, Tara. Obviously, this is a reasonable amount of forces that will -- that air mobility command will be able to transport. I don't foresee there a need for some sort of surge of airlift activity to get these folks over there.

Go ahead, Carla.

REPORTER: Hey, thanks for doing this, John. Most of my questions were answered. So, I just need a couple of clarifications that 8,500 forces that now remain on heightened readiness, that means 2,000 additional troops were put on ready. Where are those people located?

And then my second follow-up is concerning the National Guard forces that are still in Ukraine. Does that mean that since you're not sending any more to help with their security and they're not pulling, that DOD at this point does not feel that their safety is threatened? Thanks.

KIRBY: On the numbers, I think I'm just going to leave it the way I couched it in my opening statement, because I don't -- there's really no changes here. As I said, the 8,500 are still on prepare to deploy orders. They have not been activated. We have, as you clearly know now, activated others to move them as a U.S. decision. And as I said, I think earlier to, I think, Sylvie's question, there are additional to the 8,500, yes, the secretary has prepared to deploy additional U.S. forces. I'm not prepared to go into detail about that today.

When and if we are able to speak to future movements, we will speak to future movements. We will be as transparent with you as we possibly can, but we're also going to need to be, as you might understand, a little careful with the amount of detail that we put out there ahead of time. So, we'll do the best we can to be transparent with you.

On the National Guard, again, no change to their presence or posture in Ukraine. As I've said many times, the secretary takes their safety and their security to be of paramount concern. We are in constant communication with the European command about their presence, what they're doing. And if and when the secretary believes that it is the appropriate time for them to leave, if it's sooner than their deployment is up, then he'll make that decision. And, again, we'll let you know. But right now, they're still there, still providing training, advice and assistance to the Ukrainian armed forces.

Hilary Cooper (ph)?

REPORTER: Hey, Kirby, thanks for doing this. I'm still trying to figure out the -- I'm still a little bit stuck on the numbers. You said that you're not ruling out possible additional troops to being deployed to Europe. Are you saying that would be in addition to the 8,500 who are on high alert?

KIRBY: Exactly what I'm saying. The vast majority, 8,500, are designed for the NATO response force. That response force has not been activated, as I said mentioned in the opening. But we are not ruling out the possibility that there will be other U.S. moves inside Europe, in other words, just like we're moving the striker squadron from Germany to Romania.

[10:30:00]

There could be other movements inside Europe, intra-theater moves that we would speak to.