The US will send 20,000 military troops to Europe

 

 The United States will send 20,000 troops to Europe in April and May for military maneuvers. These will be the largest military maneuvers on European soil since the Cold War and confirming Washington's commitment to NATO. The announcement was made Tuesday by a senior NATO commander and comes days after an Alliance summit in London.

The US military aims to prevent Russia from repeating the annexation of the Ukrainian Crimea in 2014. The US will test its ability to transport its troops across the Atlantic to Belgium and the Netherlands and then move them rapidly to the East through Germany to Poland and along the eastern flank of NATO. After the maneuvers, the troops will return to the United States.

NATO has already sent battalions to the Baltics and Poland to prevent possible Russian incursions, but now aims to be able to support any military operation. European governments are also spending more to keep their military forces ready.

Russia says it has no intention of attacking NATO and accuses the alliance of destabilizing Europe.