INTERNATIONAL: The U.S. military has announced on Monday , January 24, it has put up to 8,500 troops on alert to be ready to deploy to Europe, potentially at very short notice, should the NATO alliance activate a rapid response force, in the latest sign of U.S. resolve in the face of a Russian military buildup near Ukraine.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby has stressed that no decision had yet been made on whether to deploy the troops, and that any such deployment would separate from intra-European movements of U.S. troops to NATO's eastern flank, to reassure nervous allies.

Meanwhile, NATO has based about 4,000 troops in multinational battalions in Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, backed by tanks, air defences and intelligence and surveillance units.

NATO has a multinational land force of up to 4,000 troops in Romania. France has offered to send more troops. The United States also has soldiers stationed at separate bases in Romania and in Bulgaria.

U.S. President Joe Biden will speak with European leaders on Monday to discuss the ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine, including Russia's military buildup on Ukraine's borders, the White House has said.