Biden is 'planning to deploy 1,000 troops to Eastern Europe before Putin invades Ukraine' alongside some NATO allies in a 'coalition of the willing'

 The United States and several of its European allies are in talks to deploy thousands of forces to NATO countries near Ukraine ahead of a potential Russian invasion of the former Soviet state, a new report claimed on Wednesday.

The deployment would be a show of force for the Western alliance against an increasingly aggressive Vladimir Putin, sources told CNN.

Each country would reportedly send 1,000 additional troops. Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary are among the countries expected to receive them.

The report claimed that not all NATO countries are on board with the potential plan, which the US and United Kingdom have signed onto. 

One official said that if the U.S. fails to get wider support, the operation could be born out of a 'coalition of the willing,' which would be a more bilateral approach. 

They would reportedly be similar in structure to NATO's current battlegroups, combat-ready forces led by the U.K., Canada, Germany and the U.S. stationed in the Baltic States and Poland.

It's not clear if the U.S.'s 1,000 troops would come from bases in Europe or if they are currently based state-side. Earlier this week Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said that 8,500 U.S.-stationed service members would be ordered to prepare for a possible deployment as the situation in Eastern Europe worsens.

DailyMail.com has reached out to the Defense Department to confirm the report and whether those troops would come from those already readying to possibly come to Europe. 

However, the ramped-up public discussions about putting more boots on the ground in Europe is a stark departure from President Joe Biden's prior stance focused on not provoking Moscow.

Russia is threatening 'retaliatory measures' if the U.S. reject their security demands and continues 'aggressive' policies after Joe Biden said on Tuesday he would consider personal sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin if he invades Ukraine

Russia warned Wednesday it would take swift 'retaliatory measures' against the U.S. and its allies if they reject their security demands and continue 'aggressive' policies as international concerns heighten that Moscow will invade Ukraine.

'If the West continues its aggressive course, Moscow will take the necessary retaliatory measures,' Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday.

Some of Russia's demands include guarantees Ukraine and other formerly Soviet nations will never enter the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance and assurances that the group will roll back troop deployment in ex-Soviet bloc countries.

The U.S. is prepared to send answers to the demands Wednesday, administration officials told CNN. But the U.S. and allies have already made clear they will reject some of Russia’s top demands.

While the response will outline areas where Washington is willing to work with Moscow, like missile placement and greater transparency, it will fall short of meeting top requests like banning Ukraine and other countries from joining NATO.

The demands come as President Joe Biden has made a direct threat to Russian President Vladimir Putin, warning of rare personal sanctions against the leader. Britain's foreign secretary Liz Truss also said she is 'not ruling out' imposing personal sanctions against Putin, but Russia hit back at the threats.

The U.S. is considering targeting Putin and his inner circle, as well as threatening export restrictions on artificial intelligence, quantum computing and aerospace, and offering to shore up Europe's supply of natural gas.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the threats as worthless because senior Russian officials are barred from holding assets abroad.

Direct U.S. sanctions on foreign leaders are rare but not unprecedented, with Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro, Syria's Bashar al-Assad and Libya's Muammer Gaddafi also punished. Measures have previously included blocking property and transactions related to the leaders' countries, and targeting his inner circle.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Biden was asked if he would consider imposing sanctions on Putin directly if Russia invaded Ukraine. 'Yes,' he responded. 'I would see that.'

Peskov publicly responded with: 'Politically, it's not painful, it's destructive.'

The Kremlin has previously said any U.S. sanctions personally targeting Putin would be crossing a red line, warning the move could result in a rupture of bilateral ties.

Putin's detailed demands, at least in part, are a nonstarter for NATO – including the pledge to reject membership into the alliance from certain nations. This could already create a stalemate that many fear could end in war.

American troops and equipment are already stationed at various military bases throughout Europe. It's not clear if the 1,000 additional troops the U.S. would deploy as part of its 'coalition of the willing' would be from one of the areas shown in the map or if the Pentagon is aiming to send U.S.-based troops

Speaking to lawmakers Wednesday, Lavrov said he and other Kremlin officials will advise Putin on the next steps after receiving written replies from the U.S. on its demands.

Lavrov indicated it wouldn't wait forever for a response, saying: 'We won't allow our proposals to be drowned in endless discussions.'

Answers are expected this week, but the U.S. and allies have already made clear they will reject some of Russia's top demands.

Lavrov's deputy refused to rule out earlier this month deploying Russian military assets to Cuba and Venezuela if Moscow's security demands aren't met, a threat that hits far closer to home for the U.S.

Several rounds of diplomatic talks have failed to produce breakthroughs in the standoff, but another attempt is going forward Wednesday as presidential advisers from Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany are set to meet in Paris to discuss ways to revive a stalled peace agreement for eastern Ukraine.

Peskov said Moscow expects a 'good frank' talk.

Russia has repeatedly denied it has any intentions to invade Ukraine, claiming the crisis is being driven by NATO and U.S. actions. But their strategic stance tells a different story as Putin built-up around 100,000 troops near the shared border with Ukraine in conjunction to launching a series of war games in the region.

Russia has repeatedly claimed it does not plan to invade Ukraine, but Putin has already built up a force of more than 100,000 troops at the eastern border of Ukraine and has thousands stationed elsewhere as tensions escalate

Speaking to reporters at a store Tuesday in Washington, D.C., President Joe Biden was asked if he would consider imposing sanctions on Putin directly if Russia invaded Ukraine. 'Yes,' he responded. 'I would see that'

A batch of U.S. cargo, including anti-tank missile systems and ammunition, landed in Ukraine Tuesday night as part of a $200 million security package

NATO said this week it was bolstering its deterrence in the Baltic region. The Pentagon also announced Monday that it put 8,500 U.S. troops on heightened alert for potential deployment to Eastern Europe and the Baltics. Defense Department Spokesperson John Kirby said Tuesday they are not ruling out putting more troops on standby.

Reportedly, Biden is considering deployment of up to 50,000 U.S. forces should Russia invade Ukraine.

Western nations have also sent planeloads of weapons to help Ukraine strengthen its defenses. The U.S. sent a huge $200 million shipment of arms to Ukraine to help shore up defenses in preparation for a potential invasion.

Three cargo planes have landed in Kyiv, with the latest arriving Tuesday night, carrying Javelin anti-tank missiles, launchers and other military hardware, in the massive muscle flexing exercise to warn Putin that he faces full U.S. arms.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov tweeted: 'Javelins in Kyiv! A new cargo of security aid - launchers & missiles - with a total weight of about 80 tons. We expect the arrival of the 4th from the big flock of birds soon. Thanks to our strategic partner.'

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in an effort to calm nerves over rising tensions said Wednesday that while the concentration of Russian troops near Ukraine poses a threat, 'their number is now insufficient for a large-scale offensive'.

'They are still missing some key military elements and systems to mount a big, full-scale offensive,' Kuleba told reporters, noting Russia likely hopes to destabilize Kyiv by 'spreading panic, raising pressure on Ukraine's financial system and launching cyberattacks.'

'President Putin would be happy to see that plan succeed so that he doesn't even need to turn to military force to put Ukraine in a vulnerable position,' he said.

Speaking late Tuesday in a televised speech to the nation, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine was 'strong enough to keep everything under control and derail any attempts at destabilization.' 

The new cargo of security aid including launchers and missiles weighs around 80 tons and will help bolster Ukraine's defenses. The U.S. has committed more than $650 million of security assistance to Ukraine in the past year and more than $2.7 billion in total since 2014

A U.S. plane carrying military equipment and munitions landed in Kyiv, the third installment of a $200million package to shore up Ukraine's defenses

Moscow sees the former Soviet republic as a buffer between Russia and NATO countries.

If Russia were to move into Ukraine, Biden said it would be the 'largest invasion since World War Two' and would 'change the world.' 

The Pentagon has put on alert about 8,500 U.S. troops in Europe and the United States to be ready to deploy to NATO's eastern flank if needed.

Aside from the personal sanctions, the US has also threatened to impose a novel export control to deprive Russia of key tech components that would damage AI and aerospace industries.

That control is aimed at blocking the export of cutting-edge 'novel' American-made products to Russia, in a bid to deprive Putin's regime of technology that could be used in any future conflict with Ukraine.

Officials said the Biden Administration may also opt to apply the control to restrict Russia's access to semiconductors, and therefore making it harder for Russians to get their hands on smartphones, games consoles and tablets.

The US and the EU already have sanctions on Russia's energy, financial and defense sectors, with tensions between Moscow and Western powers raising the prospect of new economic sanctions being imposed if Russia attacks neighboring Ukraine.

The White House is also floating the idea of curbs on Russia's biggest banks and has previously mooted measures targeting Moscow's ability to convert roubles into dollars and other currencies.

Washington could also target the state-backed Russian Direct Investment Fund.

Similar restrictions on technology were deployed during the Cold War, when the United States and other Western nations maintained severe technology sanctions on the Soviet Union, keeping it technologically backward and crimping growth.

If Biden goes through with his threat to directly sanctions Putin, the Russian leader would join Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro (left), Syria's Bashar al-Assad (center) and Libya's Muammer Gaddafi (right) in being personally punished by the U.S. 

Biden is also considering targeting the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and has pledged to shore up Europe's supply of natural gas if Putin cuts off supplies.

But Samantha Gross, the Director of Energy Security and Climate Initiative at the Brookings Institution, told DailyMail.com that the imitative was doomed to failure.

'If Russia were to completely turn off the taps we can't make that up. Other suppliers can't make that up. It's just not physically possible,' she said.

Russia said it was watching with great concern and accused Washington of fuelling tensions over Ukraine, repeating its line that the crisis was being driven by U.S. and NATO actions rather than by its own build-up of forces near the Ukrainian border.

Biden said on Tuesday he may deploy U.S. troops in the nearer term but ruled out sending unilateral U.S. forces to Ukraine, which is not a NATO member.

'There is not going to be any American forces moving into Ukraine,' he said.

So far, NATO has about 4,000 troops in multinational battalions in Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, backed by tanks, air defenses and intelligence and surveillance units.

As Western leaders appeal for unity, differences have emerged among European nations over how best to respond. 

Putin is due to meet Wednesday with the heads of some of the biggest companies in Italy, Russia's fifth biggest trading partner, despite the rising tensions.

'It is absolutely vital that... the West is united now, because it is our unity now that will be much more effective in deterring any Russian aggression,' British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, adding Britain was discussing with the United States the possibility of banning Russia from the SWIFT global payments system.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he would seek clarification over Russia's intentions in a phone call with Putin set for Friday. Political advisers from Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France are due to meet in Paris on Wednesday.

With fears of a new Russian military assault high after its invasion of Crimea in 2014, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged his compatriots on Tuesday to stay calm and said work was underway to bring about a meeting between him and the leaders of Russia, Germany and France.

'There are no rose-colored glasses, no childish illusions, everything is not simple. ... But there is hope,' Zelenskiy said in a televised address. 'Protect your body from viruses, your brain from lies, your heart from panic.'

In Washington, senior Biden administration officials said the United States was in talks with major energy-producing countries and companies around the world over a potential diversion of supplies to Europe if Russia invades Ukraine.

The EU depends on Russia for around a third of its gas supplies. Any interruptions to its Russian imports would exacerbate an existing energy crisis caused by shortages.

'We've... been working to identify additional volumes of non-Russian natural gas from North Africa and the Middle East, Asia, and the United States,' White House spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters.

'We're in discussion with major natural gas producers around the globe to understand their capacity and willingness to temporarily surge natural gas output and to allocate these volumes to European buyers,' she said.

Psaki and other officials did not name specific countries or companies but said they included a broad range of suppliers, including sellers of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

An escalated conflict would likely further increase energy costs for many countries, keeping headline inflation rates elevated for longer, said Gita Gopinath, first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund.