President Joe Biden on Thursday granted the U.S. military permission to activate upwards of 3,000 reserve troops to augment its response to the war in Ukraine.
Biden authorized the secretary of defense and the secretary of homeland security to activate “any units, and any individual members not assigned to a unit organized to serve as a unit of the Selected Reserve, or any member in the Individual Ready Reserve mobilization category.”
The unit groups are “not to exceed 3,000 total members at any one time, of whom not more than 450 may be members of the Individual Ready Reserve,” the statement added. It remains unclear whether or not Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin intends to activate the reserve troops.
“These are not additional forces; these are forces that will augment what we already have there. So as an example, over time, where we may have had someone from an active-component organization doing something, that job now under these authorities may be something that a reserve component unit may be able to do,” Lt. Gen. Douglas A. Sims II said in a statement.
VILNIUS, LITHUANIA – JULY 12: Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky (R) speaks at the announcement of the G7 nations’ joint declaration for the support of Ukraine as U.S. President Joe Biden looks on on July 12, 2023 in Vilnius, Lithuania. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
National security adviser Jake Sullivan on Wednesday touted America’s involvement in aiding Ukraine in its war against Russia, saying the world should show “gratitude” for the billions the U.S. government has provided. (RELATED: Biden Says Ukraine Should Join NATO ‘An Hour And Twenty Minutes’ After The War Ends)
“The United States of America has stepped up to provide an enormous amount of capacity to help ensure that Ukraine’s brave soldiers have the ammunition, the air defense, the infantry fighting vehicles, the mine-clearing equipment and so much else to be able to effectively defend against Russia’s onslaught and to take territory back,” Sullivan said. “I think the American people do deserve a degree of gratitude — from us, from the United States, from our government — deserve gratitude for their willingness to step up, and from the rest of the world, as well.”
Biden spoke to NATO leaders in Lithuania on Thursday and assured them the U.S. would help Ukraine for as long as it takes. He said Ukraine is not yet ready to join NATO due to the country being at war with Russia.
“I think we have to lay out a rational path for Ukraine to be able to qualify to be able to get into NATO,” Biden said on CNN.
The president has also said there is “no possibility” Russian President Vladimir Putin can win the war in Ukraine.