Biden authorizes Pentagon to deploy 3K reserve troops to Europe in response to Ukraine war

President Biden on Thursday authorized US military leaders to deploy as many as 3,000 reservists to Europe in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

The order is intended to augment US troops already overseas as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve, the president said in a statement released by the White House after his five day trip to Europe, during which he attended a two-day NATO summit in Lithuania.

“By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America . . . I hereby determine that it is necessary to augment the active Armed Forces of the United States for the effective conduct of Operation Atlantic Resolve in and around the United States European Command’s area of responsibility,” the 80-year-old president said.

Biden’s order specifies that no more than 3,000 total members can be activated at any one time, of whom no more than 450 may be members of the Individual Ready Reserve, which consists of trained soldiers who have previously served in the Active Army or Selected Reserve.

Operation Atlantic Resolve is an initiative that was launched in the wake of Russia’s 2014 invasion of the Crimean Peninsula, designed to enhance the deterrence posture along the eastern flank of the US’s NATO allies.

The president affirmed the US’s continued support for Ukraine throughout his European trip as the former Soviet state carried out a slow-moving counteroffensive meant to take back Russian-controlled areas of southern and eastern Ukraine.

On Thursday, Biden declared that Russian President Vladimir Putin has “already lost” the war and that it’s only a matter of time until he accepts it as a fact.

“Putin’s already lost the war,” Biden said during a joint press conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö in Helsinki.

“There’s no possibility of him winning the war in Ukraine,” Biden added.