White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stated that the U.S. and its NATO allies are doing contingency planning for any possible Russian attack on NATO territory.
The news, which Reuters first reported, comes as President Joe Biden landed at the Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport in Poland in the city of Rzeszow, which is less than 80 kilometers from Ukraine.
Sullivan elaborated on the reason for setting up a contingency plan. He explained that the U.S. troops had been sent to the Baltic states, Poland, and Romania.
The U.S. also supports the setup of four battle groups in the southern countries of NATO’s eastern flank.
“It is because it is important to send a clear message to Russia that the United States and NATO will defend every inch of NATO territory and deter any thinking that Putin might have about further Russian aggression into NATO,” he elaborated.
He also added that the changes in the constitution of Belarus provided for the deployment of more Russian forces which could impact NATO allies in the Baltics and Poland.
(Inputs from Reuters and The White House)