Vice President Kamala Harris says the United States has no plans to send troops to Ukraine to fight Russia.
Host of NBC’s “Today,” Savannah Guthrie, asked Harris, “What more is the West and the U.S. prepared to do?”
She noted the president said during his State of the Union address that Russian President Vladimir Putin does not know what is coming next.
“We are going to continue to do what we’ve done,” Harris said.
She told Guthrie the U.S. is going to continue to “stand firm with our allies in terms of reassessing what we are doing with sanctions. Everything is on the table for consideration, frankly.”
Harris added, “We are not going to put U.S. troops in Ukraine to fight the Russians on the ground or in the air, but we are firm in our preparedness to defend our NATO alliance and our allies.”
Watch Harris’ comments below:
“We are not going to put U.S. troops in Ukraine to fight the Russians on the ground or in the air, but we are firm in our preparedness to defend our NATO alliance and our allies.” –@VP on Ukraine crisis pic.twitter.com/Slt92nJm1h
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) March 2, 2022
Last month, Biden said troops would not be sent to rescue Americans in Ukraine.
“American citizens should leave, should leave now,” Biden said during an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt, adding, “We’re dealing with one of the largest armies in the world. This is a very different situation, and things could go crazy quickly.”
He continued, “That’s a world war when Americans and Russia start shooting at one another.”
Biden suggested, “We’re in a very different world than we’ve ever been in.”
Retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, national security and military analyst for CNN, explained what could potentially happen if the U.S. sent troops to Ukraine.
“The key to diplomacy is to limit the potential for war. While the current war of Russian illegal invasion into Ukraine is tragic, chaotic and devastating, it is still a regional conflict,” Hertling said.
He added, “If NATO or the US sent troops into Ukraine to help them fight the Russians, the dynamic would shift to a multinational conflict with potential global implications due to the nuclear power status of both US and Russia. Because of that, the US and NATO — and other nations around the world — are attempting to influence the success of Ukraine and the defeat of Russia by providing other types of support.”