RZESZOW-JASIONKA, Poland -- A few dozen elite U.S troops were seen landing Sunday in southeastern Poland near the border with Ukraine, part of President Joe Biden's order to deploy 1,700 soldiers there amid fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan warned that an invasion could happen "any day," launching a conflict that would come at an "enormous human cost."
Hundreds more infantry troops from the 82nd Airborne Division are expected to arrive at the Rzeszow-Jasionka airport about 55 miles from the border.
A U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster plane carried the troops and vehicles Sunday. Their commander is Maj. Gen. Christopher Donahue, who on Aug. 30 was the last American soldier to leave Afghanistan.
"Our national contribution here in Poland shows our solidarity with all of our allies here in Europe and, obviously, during this period of uncertainty, we know that we are stronger together," Donahue said at the airport.
In Warsaw, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak hailed the deployment, saying that "deterrence and solidarity are the best response to Moscow's aggressive policy, to the aggressive attempt at reconstructing the Russian empire."
A collective response by NATO members is "the best response to a threat, the only method of assuring security to Poland and to other NATO countries on the alliance's eastern flank," Blaszczak said.
The White House has said the U.S. does not have confirmation that Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a decision on whether to invade. But satellite imagery and other intelligence indicate he has amassed more than 100,000 troops and equipment on the border with Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the head of the Belarusian Security Council, Alexander Volfovich, said there would be "very large" military maneuvers with Russian forces in southern Belarus in the coming days. Belarus borders Ukraine to the north.
U.S. officials have expressed concern that the military exercise, set to begin Thursday, could be used as part of a multipronged invasion of Ukraine. Russian troops and equipment have traveled more than 6,000 miles to Belarus, and Moscow has deployed advanced missile systems, fighter planes and bombers.
Russia has denied that it intends to invade Ukraine but has made clear that it considers the presence of Western troops and weapons in the former Soviet sphere to be an unacceptable security threat. Putin has accused the U.S. and its European allies of ignoring his key demands to bar Ukraine from joining NATO, rule out putting offensive weapons on Russia's borders, and roll back NATO's weaponry and force posture to its 1997 boundaries.
Leaders of the U.S. and its allies have said Putin's demands to bar Ukraine from joining NATO are a nonstarter, but they have remained open to discussing other security concerns. On Sunday afternoon, Biden was asked by reporters what factors Putin was considering in making his decision.
"I think things he cannot get," Biden said.
Biden has ordered the deployment of additional U.S. troops to Poland, Romania and Germany to demonstrate America's commitment to NATO's eastern flank amid the rising tensions. Poland borders both Russia and Ukraine.
The 82nd Airborne Division can rapidly deploy and conduct parachute assaults to secure key objectives.
'ENORMOUS HUMAN COST'
The administration has stepped up warnings in recent days that Russia increasingly seems intent on invading Ukrainian territory.
Sullivan, a senior adviser to Biden, offered another warning Sunday, a day after U.S. officials confirmed that Russia has assembled at least 70% of the military firepower it likely intends to have in place by mid-month to give Putin the option of launching a full-scale invasion.
"If war breaks out, it will come at an enormous human cost to Ukraine, but we believe that based on our preparations and our response, it will come at a strategic cost to Russia as well," Sullivan said.
Sullivan did not directly address reports of a briefing in which the White House told lawmakers that a full Russian invasion could lead to the quick capture of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and result in as many as 50,000 casualties.
U.S. officials, who discussed internal assessments of the Russian buildup on the condition that they not be identified, sketched out a series of indicators suggesting that Putin intends to start an invasion in the coming weeks, although the size and scale are unclear. They stressed that a diplomatic solution appears to remain possible.
Senior Russian officials dismissed the U.S. intelligence reports as alarmist.
"Madness and scaremongering continues. ... What if we would say that US could seize London in a week and cause 300K civilian deaths?" Russia's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyanskiy, tweeted Sunday.
And parliamentary deputy Artem Turov, a member of Putin's United Russia party, accused the U.S. of disseminating fake information and of "doing everything possible to fan a new conflict."
Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, attended a classified briefing last week that administration officials gave to members of Congress. Asked Sunday on ABC's "This Week" whether he came away from the briefing thinking it was certain that Russia would move on Ukraine, he said: "I would say the conditions are there. It's more likely than not. I think the noose is being prepared; it's around Ukraine right now as we speak. These are dangerous times."
Biden administration officials said last week that intelligence findings showed that the Kremlin had worked up a plot to fabricate an attack by Ukrainian forces that Russia could use as a pretext to take military action against its neighbor.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Thursday that the scheme included production of a propaganda video that would show staged explosions and use corpses and actors depicting grieving mourners.
"It could happen as soon as tomorrow, or it could take some weeks yet," Sullivan said Sunday. He added that Putin "has put himself in a position with military deployments to be able to act aggressively against Ukraine at any time now."
Sullivan said the administration held on to hope that the Russians would move to de-escalate the situation through diplomacy.
"The key thing is that the United States needs to be and is prepared for any of those contingencies and in lockstep with our allies and partners," Sullivan said. "We have reinforced and reassured our allies on the eastern flank."
Biden's ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said in an interview on CNN's "State of the Union" that the administration is still seeking a diplomatic solution, but "at the same time, we know that the Russians continue to prepare, and we will be working to address the security issues."
PURSUING DIPLOMACY
The efforts to find a diplomatic solution are set to intensify this week, starting today with a meeting between Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the White House. Scholz has said that Russia would pay a "high price" in the event of an attack, but his government has drawn criticism for its refusal to supply lethal weapons to Ukraine, bolster its troop presence in Eastern Europe or spell out which sanctions it would support against Russia.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who recently reemphasized his country's commitment to its NATO allies, will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow today, then travel to Kyiv on Tuesday to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"The priority for me on the Ukrainian question is dialogue with Russia and de-escalation," Macron told reporters last week. "I'm very worried by the situation on the ground."
The White House on Sunday said Biden and Macron had spoken by phone to discuss "ongoing diplomatic and deterrence efforts in response to Russia's continued military build-up on Ukraine's borders."
Zelenskyy's office maintained that a diplomatic solution was more likely than war.
"An honest assessment of the situation suggests that the chance of finding a diplomatic solution for de-escalation is still substantially higher than the threat of further escalation," Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said in a statement Sunday.
Information for this article was contributed by Monika Scislowska, Czarek Sokolowski and Aamer Madhani of The Associated Press; and by Rachel Pannett, Amy B Wang, Robyn Dixon, Karen DeYoung, Dan Lamothe, Shane Harris and Amy Cheng of The Washington Post.
A U.S. Army transport plane landing at the Rzeszow-Jasionka airport in southeastern Poland on Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022, bringing from Fort Bragg troops and equipment of the 82nd Airborne Division. Additional U.S. troops are arriving in Poland after President Joe Biden ordered the deployment of 1,700 soldiers here amid fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Some 4,000 U.S. troops have been stationed in Poland since 2017. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
A U.S. Army transport plane lands at the Rzeszow-Jasionka airport in southeastern Poland on Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022, bringing from Fort Bragg troops and equipment of the 82nd Airborne Division. Additional U.S. troops are arriving in Poland after President Joe Biden ordered the deployment of 1,700 soldiers here amid fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Some 4,000 U.S. troops have been stationed in Poland since 2017. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
US Army General Christopher Donahue, left, commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division, and Polish General Wojciech Marchwica speak to journalists after unloading vehicles from a transport plane arriving from Fort Bragg at the Rzeszow-Jasionka airport in southeastern Poland, on Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. Additional U.S. troops are arriving in Poland after President Joe Biden ordered the deployment of 1,700 soldiers here amid fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Some 4,000 U.S. troops have been stationed in Poland since 2017. (AP Photo)
A U.S. Army transport plane landing at the Rzeszow-Jasionka airport in southeastern Poland on Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022, bringing from Fort Bragg troops and equipment of the 82nd Airborne Division. Additional U.S. troops are arriving in Poland after President Joe Biden ordered the deployment of 1,700 soldiers here amid fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Some 4,000 U.S. troops have been stationed in Poland since 2017. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
A U.S. Army transport plane landing at the Rzeszow-Jasionka airport in southeastern Poland on Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022, bringing from Fort Bragg troops and equipment of the 82nd Airborne Division. Additional U.S. troops are arriving in Poland after President Joe Biden ordered the deployment of 1,700 soldiers here amid fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Some 4,000 U.S. troops have been stationed in Poland since 2017. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
U.S. Army troops of the 82nd Airborne Division unloading vehicles from a transport plane after arriving from Fort Bragg at the Rzeszow-Jasionka airport in southeastern Poland, on Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. Additional U.S. troops are arriving in Poland after President Joe Biden ordered the deployment of 1,700 soldiers here amid fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Some 4,000 U.S. troops have been stationed in Poland since 2017. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
U.S. Army troops of the 82nd Airborne Division unloading vehicles from a transport plane after arriving from Fort Bragg at the Rzeszow-Jasionka airport in southeastern Poland, on Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. Additional U.S. troops are arriving in Poland after President Joe Biden ordered the deployment of 1,700 soldiers here amid fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Some 4,000 U.S. troops have been stationed in Poland since 2017. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
A U.S. Army transport plane landing at the Rzeszow-Jasionka airport in southeastern Poland on Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022, bringing from Fort Bragg troops and equipment of the 82nd Airborne Division. Additional U.S. troops are arriving in Poland after President Joe Biden ordered the deployment of 1,700 soldiers here amid fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Some 4,000 U.S. troops have been stationed in Poland since 2017. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
U.S. Army troops of the 82nd Airborne Division unloading vehicles from a transport plane after arriving from Fort Bragg, at the Rzeszow-Jasionka airport in southeastern Poland, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. Additional U.S. troops are arriving in Poland after President Joe Biden ordered the deployment of 1,700 soldiers here amid fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Some 4,000 U.S. troops have been stationed in Poland since 2017. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)Gallery: World watches Ukraine
