General Tod Wolters, the commander of US European Command, on Wednesday called for a change in US force posture in Europe in view of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Speaking during a congressional hearing, General Wolters said, “It’s gotta change, and certainly this is an opportunity as a result of this senseless act on behalf of Russia to re-examine the permanent military architecture that exists not only in Eastern Europe, but in our air policing activity in aviation and in our standing naval maritime groups.”

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Wolters also highlighted efforts by the US and its NATO allies to establish eight battalion-sized groups in eastern European countries and NATO member states.

“We are in the process of establishing eight very coherent minimum battalion sized battle groups in Eastern Europe that have all of the appropriate enablers that are coupled in with all the air policing assets and all the standing naval maritime groups so that we can more comprehensively defend in the east and do so in the north all the way back to the Atlantic Ocean extending back into the Mediterranean,” Wolters explained to members of Congress.

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“They are going to be part of the equation, and they’re very willing to do so to change the presence from a rotational to a more permanent, and I think it will continue to grow, and we’re working very hard with the North Atlantic Council to do that,” the General added, emphasizing the change from ‘rotational’ to ‘permanent’.

With regard to Ukraine, General Wolters said that the US had “two centres” with “approximately 100 individuals” working to deliver military and humanitarian assistance to war-torn Ukraine.

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The 61-year-old finally said that the system to help Ukraine was an “iterative process” that was based on “demand and supply”: “It’s not perfect by any means, but it continues to improve over time, and we’ll continue to iterate, and we’ll make sure that we continue to connect with those interlocutors at the Ukrainian level to make sure they get the right gear as quickly as we possibly can,” the General told members of the Congress.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, the US and NATO have had to confront difficult questions about their force posture in Europe, and the General’s comments possibly signal a change to the same in the years to come.