Mr. Austin said the troops of the 82nd Airborne Division based at Fort Bragg, North Caroline, will join 1,700 soldiers already based in Poland.

300 troops from the 18th Airborne Corps also arrived in Germany, the official added.

This 5,000-soldier group “will reassure our NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) allies, deter any possible aggression against their eastern flank, train with host country forces, and contribute to a wide range of contingencies,” Mr. Austin said, according to CNN.

The United States also increased its presence in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea with more warships.

Although Washington talks about promoting diplomatic channels, four Arleigh Burke-class destroyers have recently headed Europe to support NATO.

The USS The Sullivans (DDG 68), the USS Gonzalez (DDG 66), the USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) and the USS Mitscher (DDG 57) were stationed in the region, an unidentified defense official said.

In this context, US Senator Bernie Sanders called for a war with Russia over Ukraine to be avoided at all costs and warned consequences could be catastrophic.

A Russia-NATO-USA war would be the deadliest since World War II, Mr. Sanders said.

Sanders added that he is “greatly concerned” as he hears “the familiar drumbeats in Washington, the bellicose rhetoric that is amplified before each war.”

“Wars rarely turn out the way experts tell us they will. Just ask officials who provided rosy scenarios for the wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq,” Sanders noted.

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