President Joe Biden on Thursday issued an order authorizing the Pentagon to call up 3,000 reservists for deployment to Europe.
The order states that units deployed are not to exceed more than 3,000 total members at one time, of whom not more than 450 may be members of the Individual Ready Reserve.
The Washington Post reports that the overall level of U.S. military forces in Europe currently stands at around 80,000.
The order authorizing more troops comes after Biden’s five-day trip to Europe, which included stops in the U.K., Finland, and Lithuania. That trip highlighted Biden’s support for Ukraine in the ongoing conflict with Russia.
Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims, the director for operations on the Joint Staff, said the order “reaffirms the unwavering support and commitment to the defense of NATO’s eastern flank in wake of Russia’s illegal and unprovoked war on Ukraine.”
Biden told CNN that the war in Ukraine needs to end before Ukraine can be brought into NATO.
“The one thing [Ukrainian President] Zelenskyy understands now is that whether or not he’s in NATO now is not relevant, as long as he has the commitments,” Biden said during his recent trip to Europe.
From the beginning of the conflict, Biden has insisted that U.S. troops will not be sent into Ukraine to fight Russian forces, but the United States has sent tens of billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine, including a recent shipment of cluster bombs.
