{"id":59053,"date":"2022-01-20T01:18:48","date_gmt":"2022-01-20T01:18:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/01\/20\/biden-promises-additional-troops-sanctions-if-russia-invades-ukraine\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T12:05:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T12:05:08","slug":"biden-promises-additional-troops-sanctions-if-russia-invades-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/flashpoints\/2022\/01\/20\/biden-promises-additional-troops-sanctions-if-russia-invades-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden promises additional troops, sanctions if Russia invades Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The United States will send more troops to eastern European NATO members, including Poland or Romania, if Russian President Vladimir Putin moves forward with an invasion of Ukraine<\/a>, President Joe Biden said Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden said the U.S. would not withdraw troops from former Soviet countries to de-escalate tensions with Russia, as he answered questions at a news conference to mark his one-year anniversary in office. Tensions have been growing in recent months amid a Russian troop buildup near the Ukraine border<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe won\u2019t permanently station,\u201d said Biden, \u201cbut the idea we\u2019re not going to we\u2019re going to actually increase troop presence in Poland or Romania, et cetera, if, in fact, he moves because we have a sacred obligation on Article 5 to defend those countries, they are part of NATO.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. (Susan Walsh\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Biden said the US has \u201cgreat concern\u201d about what happens in Ukraine, even though it is not a NATO member<\/a>, and that he believes Vladimir Putin doesn\u2019t want full blown war in Ukraine. He also said he believes that Russia is preparing to take action on Ukraine, though he doesn\u2019t think the Russian president has made a final decision. He suggested that he would limit Russia\u2019s access to the international banking system if it did further invade Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m not so sure that he is certain what is he going to do,\u201d Biden said. He added, \u201cMy guess is he will move in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden\u2019s comments came hours after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a visit to Kyiv<\/a> accused Russia of planning to reinforce the more than 100,000 troops it has deployed along the Ukrainian border and suggested that number could double \u201con relatively short order.\u201d Blinken did not elaborate, but Russia has sent an unspecified number of troops from the country\u2019s far east to its ally Belarus<\/a>, which also shares a border with Ukraine, for major war games next month.<\/p>\n\n\n\t