Russia to give proper response to possible deployment of U.S. troops to Baltic, East European countries - Duma Defense Committee head

MOSCOW. Jan 24 (Interfax) - Russia will give a proper response to the possible U.S. military buildup in the Baltic and East European countries, State Duma Defense Committee Chairman Andrei Kartapolov said.

"Obviously, Russia will not let such actions slide, it will give a relevant response to the escalating threats," Kartapolov told reporters on Monday, commenting on an article in The New York Times, which said that up to 5,000 U.S. troops might be deployed in Eastern Europe and the Baltic countries.

"The deployment of these troops and the military buildup will be the real cause of an escalation of tensions in the region," he said.

"Now we know who wants to escalate the tensions and who continues to destabilize the situation - it's the United States. Clearly, we view this information as disquieting," Kartapolov said.

The New York Times said, citing informed sources in the U.S. administration, that the United States might deploy up to 5,000 troops, in addition to warships and aircraft to Eastern Europe and the Baltic countries.

U.S. President Joe Biden is considering deploying several thousand U.S. troops, as well as warships and aircraft, to NATO allies in the Baltics and Eastern Europe, the sources said.

According to The New York Times, "in a meeting on Saturday at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland, senior Pentagon officials presented Biden with several options that would shift American military assets much closer to Mr. Putin's doorstep, the administration officials said. The options include sending 1,000 to 5,000 troops to Eastern European countries, with the potential to increase that number tenfold if things deteriorate."

Biden is expected to make a decision as early as this week, the sources said.