"[T]here are no announcements that we are poised to make about a permanent US presence on NATO's eastern flank," Donfried said during a press briefing. "[W]e will continue to revisit and evaluate how we are postured on NATO's eastern borders".
Donfried's statement comes amid ongoing allegations circulating in Western media, repeated by politicians in NATO countries, that Russia is building up troops at the border with Ukraine. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Washington was worried by the development and vowed that the US would respond should Moscow undertake aggressive actions against Ukraine.
At the same time, head of the US Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley stated that the Pentagon saw no signs of imminent plans of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
12 November 2021, 17:49 GMT
The Kremlin dismissed reports of any alleged threat of an invasion of Ukraine as a fake news campaign targeting Moscow. The Russian Foreign Ministry, as well as the Kremlin's spokesman, repeatedly stressed that Russian troop movements within the borders of the country were of nobody's concern. Moscow also stressed that its armed forces pose a threat to nobody.