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Ukraine To Add 100,000 Troops As Russian Invasion Looms

(Photo by Peter Nicholls - Pool/Getty Images)

Dylan Housman Deputy News Editor
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Ukraine will add more troops to its military as the threat of a potential Russian invasion hangs over Kyiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree Tuesday to add 100,000 troops to his country’s armed forces over the next three years, according to Reuters. Zelensky said he was signing the order not in anticipation of a war with Russia, but so that Ukraine could see peace in the near future.

Zelensky has repeatedly urged Ukrainian lawmakers and citizens not to panic. Officials in Kyiv have maintained the stance that they do not believe a Russian invasion of their country is imminent, which is contrary to the belief of many Western leaders, including the Biden administration.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson met Tuesday with Zelensky in Kyiv and said Russian President Vladimir Putin is holding a gun to the head of his neighbor to the West. “It is vital that Russia steps back and chooses a path of diplomacy,” he said.

Zelensky also met with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who promised to help supply Ukraine with gas and arms in the event of a conflict. (RELATED: Reporter Confronts State Department Spokesman Ned Price Over Russia, Ukraine)

Most of Europe, along with the United States, has pledged some form of support to Ukraine, although the levels of commitment have varied, with Germany notably soft in its support. In a January speech, President Joe Biden said that in the event of a “minor incursion” by Putin into Ukraine, there was not a consensus within NATO on how to respond.