Lawmakers urge Biden to get Congress' approval before involving troops in Ukraine
After the deployment of US troops to Eastern Europe, lawmakers made sure to remind US President Joe Biden that he must take the Congress' approval before taking any decisions.
A bipartisan group of congressmen wrote a statement to US President Joe Biden, reminding him that he previously stated that he would not send US troops to Ukraine, but that his position could change.
Biden announced the deployment of US troops and equipment to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania on Tuesday, in addition to the deployment and relocation of over 6,000 US service members to Germany, Poland, and Romania.
"I'm urging Pres Biden to follow the Constitution and the law and receive authorization from Congress before involving US forces in the Russia-Ukraine conflict," said Rep. Peter DeFazio. "The American people deserve to have a say before we become involved in yet another foreign conflict."
For the time being, Biden has ruled out sending US troops to Ukraine, but he has ordered the relocation of some US troops on NATO's eastern flank. NATO does not recognize Ukraine as a member.
"Today, in response to Russia's admission that it will not withdraw its forces from Belarus, I have authorized additional movements of US forces and equipment already stationed in Europe to strengthen our Baltic allies, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania," Biden said amid Western claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin would attack Ukraine on a major scale.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, according to sources, has ordered the deployment of 800 US troops and 20 Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopters already stationed in Europe to the Baltic region.
It is worth noting that Biden stated that the US would continue to support Kiev with "defensive" assistance.