The top US general, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, told US lawmakers on Tuesday that the US should look into sending more troops to Eastern Europe to deter Russian aggression.
In his first testimony to Congress since the invasion began, Milley said that the US troops should cycle through bases created by Nato partners, rather than remain stationed there in a permanent capacity.
“My advice would be to create permanent bases but don’t permanently station (forces), so you get the effect of permanence by rotational forces cycling through permanent bases,” he said.
“I believe that a lot of our European allies, especially those such as the Baltics or Poland and Romania, and elsewhere – they’re very, very willing to establish permanent bases. They’ll build them, they’ll pay for them.”
He went on to call the war in Ukraine “the greatest threat to peace and security of Europe and perhaps the world in my 42 years of service in uniform”.
“The islands of the Pacific and the beaches of Normandy bore witness to the incredible tragedy that befalls humanity when nations seek power through military aggression across sovereign borders,” Milley said.
“Despite the horrific assault on the institutions of freedom, it is heartening to see the world rally and say never again to the spectre of war in Europe.”