News chief white house correspondent, peter alexander. Nbc news foreign correspondent, matt bradley in eastern ukraine, jonathan la mir, Politico White House bureau chief as well as host of Way Too Early here on msnbc. And he lane cooper, the New York Times pentagon correspondent. Both jonathan and helane are msnbc contributors. Peter, what more can you tell us about the president s decision to u. S. Moves troops already on standby to europe . Reporter thats exactly right. We have now learned that its a total of 3,000 u. S. Troops who will be moving, about a thousand of them already in europe will be going to romania, a native member nation. Another 2,000 presently here in the u. S. Will be going to germany and to poland, as well. This comes, according to a Senior Administration official at the president s direction, and following the recommendation of the defense secretary, Secretary Austin. I think youre going to hear this officially from john kirby, the Press Secretary at the pentagon, within the next few moments here. And peter, i think here he is. Peter, sorry to interrupt you. Heres john kirby. Just some things at the top. I think, as you heard Secretary Austin address just last friday in his remarks with the chairman here in the briefing room, we remain focused on the evolving situation in europe and russias actions on the Ukrainian Border and belarus. As the secretary said, the United States stands shouldertoshoulder with our nato allies. The Current Situation demands that we reinforce the deterrent and defensive posture on natos Eastern Flank. President biden has been clear that the United States will respond to the growing threat to europes security and stability. Our commitment to nato, article v, and collective defense, remains ironclad. As part of this commitment and to be prepared for a range of contingencies, the United States will soon move Additional Forces to romania, poland, and germany. I want to be very clear about something. These are not permanent moves. They are moves designed to respond to the current security environment. Moreover, these forces are not going to fight in ukraine. They are going to ensure the robust defense of our nato allies. Now, let me lay this out for you in a series of three steps. First, 1,000 soldiers that are currently based in germany will reposition to romania in the coming days. Now, this is a Striker Squadron. A mounted cavalry unit thats designed to deploy in short order and to move quickly once in place. And they will augment the sum of 900 u. S. Forces that are currently in romania. Now, this force is designed to deter aggression and enhance our defensive capabilities in frontline allied states. And we expect them, as i said, to move in coming days. Secretary austin discussed this repositioning to romania just last week in his conversation with the romanian minister of defense. And again, i want to stress that this move is coming at the express invitation of the romanian government. Additionally, we welcome french president macrons announcement that france intends to deploy forces to romania, under nato command, which Secretary Austin discussed with the French Defense minister, florence parley, just last week. The United States will continue to consult and coordinate with france and all of our allies to ensure that we complement each other in our respective deployments. And of course, well continue to work through nato to make appropriate defensive and nonescalatory Force Posture alignments. Second, we are moving an additional force of about approximately 2,000 troops from the United States to europe in the next few days. The 82nd Airborne Division is deploying components of an Infantry Brigade combat team and key enablers to poland, and the 18th Airborne Corps is moving a joint task forcecapable headquarters to germany. Both of them, as you know, are based in ft. Bragg, north carolina. Collectively, this force is trained and equipped for a variety of missions to deter aggression and to reassure and to defend our allies. Not surprisingly, we work very closely with our polish and german allies to set the stage for these movements and we absolutely appreciate their support. Again, these are not permanent moves. They respond to current conditions. We will adjust our posture as those conditions evolve. Third and finally, all of neersz these forces are separate and in addition to the personnel in the United States on heightened alert posture. Those 8,500 are not currently being deployed, but remain ready to move if called for the Nato Response force, or as needed for other contingencies, as directed by the secretary or by President Biden. We continue to review our Force Posture in the situation in europe and we will make adjustments as the situation warrants. I also want to take this opportunity to correct some misconceptions around last weeks announcement, nato as an organization does not have veto power over u. S. Troops deployments and media reports to the contrary represent a mischaracterization of that. Nothing precludes the United States from making its own decisions on Force Movements, including those forces that are being placed on heightened readiness. That said, any movement of u. S. Forces involves consultation with the host nation, as we have done with romania and poland and germany. Prior to todays announcements. And were mindful of the competing needs of security and our obligation to be transparent and will provide you Additional Information on these and other movements as available and as appropriate. As we have long said, we are continuously reviewing our posture so there may soon be additional posture decisions to announce, including movements that are part of ongoing military exercises. This is not the sum total of the deterrence actions we will take, or those to reassure our allies. I think it wont surprise you that we take a theaterwide approach to theater and defense and welcome the additional announcements by spain, denmark, the uk, and the netherlands of their consideration to deploy Additional Forces to reinforce natos Eastern Flank. The United States has robust capabilities distributed across europe, including in the baltic region, and we will continue to assess needs in that area in cooperation with the relevant allies and, of course, the full nato alliance. We stand united. We have said that repeatedly. We say it again today. These movements are unmistakable signals to the world that we stand ready to reassure our nato allies and deter and defend against any aggression. Now, as the secretary said friday, we do not know if russia has made a final decision to further invade ukraine. But it clearly has that capability. The Department Of Defense will continue to support diplomatic efforts, led by the white house and the State Department to press for resolution. We do not believe conflict is inevitable. The United States in lockstep with our allies and partners, has offered russia a path to deescalate. But we will take all prudent measures to assure our own security and that of our allies. Finally, just one note. I note that in the past few hours, a proposal made by the United States leaked to a European News Outlet. We did not make this document public. But now that it is, it confirms to the entire world that we have always been saying. There is no daylight between our public safeties and our private discussions. Nato and its partners are unified in their resolve and open to constructive and serious diplomacy. The United States has gone the extra mule to find a diplomatic solution. And if russia wants to negotiate a diplomatic solution, as it claims it does, this document certainly makes clear that there is a path forward to do so. And with that, well take questions, starting with you, lita. Hi, john, thanks. Just a couple of details on some of this. Is it still 8,500 total that are on prepare to deploy orders, or are there additional ones . And theres a brigade at ft. Carson thats already scheduled to move into europe. Are you including them theres been some confusion. Are you including that person brigade in the preparetodisplay order, or are they completely separate because theyre an already scheduled deployment . And one other, are there more are these troops that are going, are they under nato or are these all unilateral u. S. Moves . Thank you. Well, let me see if i can remember all of those. The troops that im talking about today will be going under u. S. Command. As i said in the case of romania, theyll begin to deploy troops there. Well begin that in full consultation with romania. I wouldnt describe these as unilateral moves. This is a bilateral arrangement between the United States and romania, but theyll be going under u. S. Command. The 8,500 remain on preparetodeploy orders, as i said, when i talked about it last month, the vast majority of them are designed for the Nato Response force. As i said in my opening statement, that force has not been activated. So they arent going anywhere. The secretary has, as you might imagine, as we have worked towards these troop movements, there have been Additional Forces put on the preparetodeploy orders or shortened at the timetethers. You can expect that that could continue to happen going forward. Were going to constantly look at the conditions in the region and consult with allies on partners. And if we feel we need to make Additional Forces more ready, well do that. If we feel that we need to send more forces to certain Eastern Flank countries, well do that too. In full consultation with nato and in full consultation with the specific allies and partners. And i think i missed one of your questions. Im going to have to take that one, lita, i dont have the breakdown of every single unit in that origin 8,500 in front of me. So let me just take that, rather than speculate and guess. Jen . John, do you have any evidence that putin plans to move beyond ukraines borders . Why are you bolstering these Eastern Flank allies if you do not have evidence of that . Because its important that we send a strong signal to mr. Putin and frankly to the world that nato matters to the United States, it matters to our allies. And we have ironclad article v commitments. An attack on one is an attack on all. And so we know that he also bristles at nato, about nato. And he has made no secret of that. We are making it clear that were going to be prepared to defend our nato allies if it comes to that. Hopefully it wont come to that. Nobody wants to see as i said, conflict is not inevitable. Theres no reason for there to be armed conflict, in ukraine or anywhere else on the european continent. And mr. Putin can go a long way to serving that end by taking seriously the proposes that we have put forward, diplomatically, and by deescalating by moving some of those troops away. But is there any evidence that he plans to that anything youre seeing, that suggests those troops that are outside ukraine might carry on to poland, romania . What we see, jen, is clear evidence, every day, that he continues to destabilize the environment by adding more forces in the western part of his country and along belarus. In addition to additional naval activity in the mediterranean and in the north atlantic. So he clearly is providing himself many options, lots more capabilities, for exactly what purpose . We dont know right now. And because we dont know exactly what his purpose is, we want to make sure were ready on the nato front to defend our allies. Barbara . I want to follow up on jens question. You said at the beginning, the Current Situation demands we reinforce so what specifically demands the reinforcement that you are laying out today . And the reason i ask this, this is bilateral, as you said, originally you spoke at length about the nato reserve force, you are moving ahead bilaterally, not under a nato umbrella anyhow, so what signal does that accepted that youre not waiting for a nato vote and what is the Current Situation that demands this reinforcement outside of russia, outside of ukraine. I dont think i heard a specific answer. I think the signal it sends that were moving additional u. S. Forces into allied territory, at the request and with the invitation of those countries is that we take our nato commitments very, very seriously. And i put that right in the opening statement. And as for, i think your question is, why now why are you i dont hear i dont understand i dont i would like an explanation why youre doing this now without the vote at nato, which does not appear readily apparent for them to activate the Response Force. What has led you to say, okay, the United States will act on a bilateral basis. You have the invitations. You could have waited for a nato vote. You decided not to. So what is the well, its not just us, barb. Other nations, and denmark, the uk, france. Other nato nations are likewise discussing in bilateral ways with Eastern Flank nations the addition of capabilities to those nations. Its not just the United States. Its other nato allies that are doing this. You talk about this vote thing. Lets be clear. What i think youre getting at is the Nato Response force. Thats a 40,000personstrong force that is designed for high readiness. And that is a decision that the alliance and only the alliance can make. We have a contribution to that. We have gotten those forces alerted to be ready to go, if needed. And they still will be. We also can, if the president decides, as commander in chief, to take some of those alerted forces and move them in a bilateral arrangement, as well, we can do that. As i said at the top, its not like the alliance has a Veto Authority on any of those troops that were put on prepare to deploy. In terms of why now, heres a couple of factors. Mr. Putin continues to add forces, combined arms, offensive capabilities, even over just the last 24 hours. He continues to add in Western Russia and in belarus and the north atlantic. He has no signs of being interested or willing to deescalate the attentions. Its not just the United States thats noticed this. Our nato allies have noticed this. And they have expressed their concerns. We have shared our perspectives on what were seeing with them. They have shared their perspectives on what theyre seeing with us. And as a result of these bilateral discussions, we are now prepared to make these moves. I say again, two things. These are temporary moves, not permanent deployments, not permanent basing. And two, were not ruling out the possibility that there will be more coming up in future days and weeks. So my last question. The bottom line here is you cannot the United States, the pentagon, the white house, now right now could not rule out the possibility that putin could make a move outside of ukraine, into an Eastern European country thats friendly with nato, friendly with the u. S. And allies. You cant rule out that hes going to make an additional move beyond ukraine . Were not ruling anything in or out with this announcement, barb. This isnt about this isnt about an intel assessment about what mr. Putin will or wont do. As i said again in my opening statement, we still dont believe hes made a decision to further invade ukraine. And if he does further invade ukraine, obviously, theres going to be consequences for that, but he has many options and capabilities available to him, as to how he might do that. And we simply dont know. We want to make sure that he knows any move on nato is going to be resisted. And its going to trigger article v and were going to be committed to the defense of our allies. Thats what this is all about. Yeah, david . When President Biden previewed this last week and he said he would be sending forces into nearterm, he also said, not a lot. Do you consider 3,000 not a lot . And how does how do 1,000 troops, infantry troops, stop the kind of force that youve been describing that russia has been amassing in Western Russia and belarus . We think that these orders that the secretary is giving today are very much in keeping with the president s comments. And to your other question, i remind, again, that we hold the option open of additional Force Movements if thats desired and needed. So the steps im talking about today could very well be preliminary steps to fwuc futurs we might take. To your other quest