US troop deployment in Romania poses threat to Russia: Kremlin
The Kremlin says US troop deployment in Romania, near the Ukrainian border, poses a threat to Russia, more than eight months after Moscow began a military offensive in Ukraine.
The US Army has already deployed the 2nd Brigade of its 101st Airborne Division to Romania near the Ukrainian border. It is the first time in almost 80 years that the division, with a regular number of 4,700 people, has deployed to Europe.
The development is significant as it comes against the backdrop of Ukrainian forces advancing into Kherson, a Ukrainian region that joined the Russian Federation quite recently. Russian troops have fortified the region to prevent Ukrainian forces from retaking it.
On Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov condemned the US troop deployment as a threat against Russia.
"The closer US forces are to our borders, the greater the danger for us is. Of course, the better we counter and will continue to counter when ensuring our own security," he said at a press conference.
Peskov added that such deployment of US troops near Russian borders, in any case, "does not lead to increase of predictability and stability" in the region.
Described as the most combat-ready and elite units of the US Army, the light infantry unit - nicknamed the "Screaming Eagles" - can deploy to any war zone across the globe in the shortest possible time.
The elite unit is now only around three miles from Romania's border with Ukraine.
SS
