U.S. military and diplomats are considering deploying special forces to guard the reopened U.S. embassy in the Ukrainian capital, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday. The US military presence in the war zone, in the face of concerns for the security of American diplomats in Kiev.
According to the report, the proposal has not yet been presented to President Joe Biden, but if he approves it, the forces will only be deployed for the protection and security of the embassy, which is within range of Russian missiles, according to sources. As mentioned, the presence of forces within Ukraine would signal an escalation from Biden’s initial promise that no American troops would be sent to the country.
The administration seeks to balance the Foreign Ministry’s fears of a possible response by Russian President Vladimir Putin to expressing a strong and prominent security position at the US embassy in Kiev, and the need to deter a possible attack on US military personnel – and hold enough forces to rescue them if fighting resumes in Kiev. For now, the US State Department will provide its own security, a corps of guards in the diplomatic security service, to the embassy in Kiev.
“We are in close contact with our State Department colleagues about possible security requirements now that they have resumed operations at the Kiev embassy,” said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, adding: ” “US Army to Ukraine for one purpose or another.”
According to the report, there are US officials interested in the greater presence of American forces to manage the tens of billions of dollars of weapons spilled into the country in recent months. Planning and consulting for the Ukrainian army.
Meanwhile, the State Department has already begun relying on the U.S. military for security. On May 8, Christina Quinn, the senior diplomat in the U.S. embassy in Ukraine, and a small group of U.S. diplomats temporarily sitting in Poland returned to the U.S. embassy in Kiev to commemorate Victory Day in Europe with Ukrainian officials were escorted by U.S. special forces assigned by the Joint Special Operations Command in Port Bragg, NC, who provided their security – the first known case in which U.S. forces entered the country since the invasion.
Last Wednesday, the American flag was hoisted at the embassy. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the department “has introduced additional measures to increase the safety of our colleagues returning to Kiev and improving our security measures and protocols”. The Senate recently approved a new U.S. ambassador to Kiev, Bridget Brink, but it has not yet arrived in Ukraine.
The initial number of U.S. diplomats at the embassy will be small, and it will take time and resources to move them and their families back to office, U.S. officials said. But the benefits of a renewed diplomatic presence are clear, according to sources: U.S. officials will be able to interact personally with the Kyiv government, monitor the distribution of billions of dollars in American weapons, monitor the movements of Russian troops and offer technical assistance. , Is the key.