The White House turned down a proposal by the US military to send a “few hundred” special operations personnel to Ukraine to train troops on unconventional warfare, fearing that such a move would provoke Moscow at a time Russian troops were gathering at Ukraine’s borders in December, the New York Post said, citing a report. 

As per Politico, the Joe Biden-led administration was hopeful for a peaceful resolution to the situation and saw the influx of American troops in the former Soviet Union country as detrimental to the process. 

According to the report, as cited by the New York Post, a Pentagon official made informed the Senate Armed Services Committee that the plan was ditched due to these fears. The report further claimed that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin planned to speak directly with President Biden over the mission. 

According to the report, which the New York Post cited, Ukrainian troops would be trained in guerilla tactics, which is different from the military tactics taught to them at the Yavoriv Combat Training Center, in Western Ukraine. 

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Ilan Berman, a senior vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council, who’s consulted with the CIA and State Department, criticized this decision. Speaking to Politico, he said “This is part of a larger story in which the White House pulled its punches in the lead-up to the conflict, when we already saw that the Russians were amassing troops”, and added, “Based on either incorrect assumptions about what Vladimir Putin wanted to do or based upon worries about provoking Putin — he didn’t need any provoking! — it’s one example of these calculations leading to a more passive approach than we could have taken”. 

However, the US has denied these reports with a White House spokesperson telling Politico that no such plans were presented to them or the National Security Council. A Defense Department official also denied that any activities were cancelled in Ukraine until US troops were repositioned in February. 

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While the current invasion of Ukraine commences, the US has been careful to provide aid but ensure their troops do not engage directly with Russians. To that end, they’ve shot down Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s requests for a no-fly zone and has also decided not to supply MiGs to the embattled country.