Defence leaders are in the process of developing options for President Joe Biden on America's military presence in Europe, the Pentagon's top officer told the Senate on Thursday.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Mark Milley told the Senate Armed Services Committee that a list of options will be presented to Mr Biden and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin pertaining to reconfiguring US posture in Europe.
The goals are “to assure our allies and deter an adversary, specifically Russia”, he said.
Mr Austin told the committee that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will undoubtedly change the US military footprint across Europe, but the degree of those changes has yet to be determined.
Those decisions are likely to be made at the next Nato summit on June 29, Mr Austin said.
The US currently has troops deployed across Eastern Europe and nearly 100,000 across the continent. While it has permanent bases across Western Europe, US troops in the East are rotated through facilities run by ally countries.
The defence chief told Congress that Moscow has not engaged in military dialogue with Washington since mid-February. “We've not been very successful because the Russians have not responded,” Mr Austin said.
Asked if he was alarmed by the snub, the US defence secretary said he was “disappointed".
“Based upon what they've done, nothing surprises me. And it doesn't mean that we'll stop reaching out to engage them," he said.
Both Mr Austin and Gen Milley expect a prolonged conflict in Ukraine.
“There's a significant battle yet ahead down in the south-east, down around the Donbas region where the Russians intend to amass forces and continue their assault,” Gen Milley said.
He argued that it is still an open question as to how the war will end, despite the Russian retreat from Kyiv.
“Ideally, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin decides to [implement a] ceasefire, stops his aggression, and there’s some sort of diplomatic intervention, but right now that doesn't look like it's on the immediate horizon,” Gen Milley said.
“It's going to be a long slog.”
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Nato foreign ministers meet in Brussels to discuss the latest in the continuing Russia-Ukraine war. AFP -
People take part in a protest against the transport of cargo to Russia and Belarus near the Polish-Belarusian border crossing in Koroszczyn, eastern Poland. EPA -
A Ukrainian naval vessel, thought to be the ‘Donbas’ and a nearby building burn in the besieged city of Mariupol. AP -
Bucha resident Tetiana Ustymenko weeps over the grave of her son, buried in the garden of her house, in Bucha, north-west of Kyiv. AFP -
People charge their mobile phones in a public building in Bucha. AFP -
People from Mariupol leave a train to be taken to temporary residences in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. AP -
Vladyslava Liubarets, a Bucha resident, cries as she hugs her sister whom she had not seen since the beginning of the Russian invasion, in Bucha, the town which was retaken by the Ukrainian army. EPA -
Local citizen Oleksandr, 55, looks at the grave of his neighbour in the backyard of his private house in Hostomel in Kyiv. EPA -
Debris of a rocket missile on the field near Kyiv. EPA -
The mother of Ukrainian soldier Lubomyr Hudzeliak, who was killed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, mourns during his funeral in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. AFP -
A woman takes care of a baby at a shelter in the Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk in Donbas region. AFP -
Residents gather outside a shelter in the city of Severodonetsk. AFP -
Residents in eastern Ukraine, including the city of Severodonetsk in Donbas region, have been asked by their government to leave 'now' or 'risk death'. AFP -
A young girl with her dog arrives at a centre for the displaced in Zaporizhzhia, north-west of Mariupol. AFP -
A damaged ambulance in Hostomel, on the outskirts of Kyiv. Reuters -
A bomb crater left behind by Russia's attack on the Ukrainian village of Demydiv, on the outskirts of Kyiv. Reuters -
Russian attacks have reduced Hotel Ukraine in Chernihiv to debris. Reuters -
Oleksii Shcherbo, 98, near his burnt house in the village of Sloboda, on the outskirts of Chernihiv. Reuters -
Residents walk past destroyed Russian military machinery on the street, in Bucha, the town which was retaken by the Ukrainian army, north-west of Kyiv. EPA -
Damaged National flags flutter in the wind on a cemetry of Chernihiv city which was blocked by Russian troops for a long time. EPA -
Demonstrators lie down on the ground in tribute to the people killed in Russia's war against Ukraine, in Berlin, Germany. AP -
A Ukrainian firefighter works at the site of a burning fuel storage facility ignited by an air strike, in Dnipropetrovsk. Reuters -
A woman before and after she was removed by rescuers from debris after a military strike on the town of Rubizhne, Luhansk. Reuters -
People wait for help to evacuate Derhachi. Reuters -
Pope Francis, in Vatican, holds a Ukrainian flag given to him by a delegation from the town of Bucha, where dozens of bodies had been found. EPA -
State emergency servicemen clear shells near Chernigiv, northern Ukraine. AFP -
US war veteran Steven Straub shows his tattoo of the Ukrainian flag while on patrol near Buda-Babynetska, north of Kyiv, days after Russian forces retreated from the area. AFP -
Candles are arranged in the shape of Ukraine by the monument to the poet Taras Shevchenko in the western city Lviv. AFP -
A teddy bear hangs from a tree branch outside an apartment building in Borodyanka, Kyiv oblast. AP -
A woman carries her cat as she walks past buildings that were destroyed by Russian shelling, in Borodyanka. Reuters -
Dmitriy Evtushkov, 25, points to his picture in a primary school album retrieved from the rubble of a block of flats. AP -
Technicians try to fix the internet in Bucha. AP -
A smashed mobile phone lies next to a Russian army ration book in Bucha. AP -
A woman and children after their arrival at a centre for displaced persons in Zaporizhzhia, about 200 kilometres north-west of Mariupol. AFP -
A man leaves a damaged pharmacy after a bombing that killed several civilians, in Mykolaiv. AP -
Ukrainian soldiers sing a patriotic song with buildings in the background that were destroyed during fighting in Borodyanka. AP -
Borodyanka residents carry humanitarian aid packages. Reuters -
Elderly Ukrainians shelter in a basement in Kharkiv, in eastern Ukraine. EPA -
Destroyed apartment buildings in Borodyanka. Reuters -
Relatives and friends are overwhelmed with emotions as they stand next to the coffin of Anatoly German during his funeral. AP
Mr Austin saw Russia as refocusing on an offensive on the east and south of Ukraine.
“Putin thought that he could very rapidly take over the country of Ukraine, very rapidly capture this capital city, he was wrong … Putin has probably has given up on that,” Mr Austin said.
Ukraine has received about 25,000 anti-aircraft weapons systems and 60,000 anti-tank systems from the US and its allies, helping Kyiv prevent Russia from establishing air superiority that would have aided Moscow's ground invasion, Gen Milley said.
“The Ukrainians … are very, very thankful, extraordinarily thankful,” Gen Milley told the committee.
