Redeployment of U.S. forces to Eastern Europe may disrupt talks on security guarantees - Duma deputy

MOSCOW. Feb 2 (Interfax) - The United States' decision to redeploy some of its forces to Eastern Europe is a destructive step that might undermine the negotiating process on security guarantees and prompt Moscow to give a tough response, Dmitry Novikov, first deputy head of the Russian State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee, said on Wednesday.

"Unless this is just an element of infoglut and fake news for domestic [American] use, this is an absolutely destructive step. Not only can it complicate the situation in Ukraine and represent NATO and its leader, the U.S., as aggressive forces, but these actions can also be qualified as an attempt to hack the fragile negotiating process on security guarantees," Novikov told Interfax on Wednesday, in commenting on a CNN report citing unnamed sources that U.S. President Joe Biden is preparing to announce the redeployment of extra U.S. forces to Eastern Europe.

This step might further deteriorate Moscow's relations with the West and deal a blow to efforts toward defusing the tensions, Novikov said.

Moreover, the repositioning of U.S. forces could be seen as an attempt to prompt Moscow to take tougher and more comprehensive retaliatory measures, he said.

"If the U.S. prompts the Russian Federation to give the toughest possible response by sending extra contingents, this should ultimately be more of a problem for them than for us," he said.