Russia should not regard additional NATO troops in Eastern Europe as a provocation, but a legitimate response to its “aggression” in Ukraine by a purely defensive alliance, the spokesman for the US National Security Council John Kirby told reporters.
Kirby was asked by Bloomberg to comment on US President Joe Biden’s announcement on Wednesday that more troops will be sent to Poland, Romania and the Baltic states, along with additional US planes and ships being stationed elsewhere on the continent.
“There’s no reason that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin needs to view any force posture change on NATO’s eastern flank as a provocation. NATO is, will be, always has been a defensive alliance,” said Kirby.
“The reason we have to do this is because Mr Putin has been the destabilizing influence on the continent. Mr Putin decided to invade a sovereign, neighboring state. Mr Putin is the one who is the aggressor,” Kirby added.
The retired US Navy admiral, who left his job as the Pentagon spokesman last month to move to the White House, also argued that while NATO wants the conflict in Ukraine to end, it’s up to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “to determine when and where, [and] under what circumstances, the negotiations can even begin.”