Joe Biden

President Joe Biden said Wednesday that the U.S. is enhancing its military presence in Europe for the long haul to bolster regional security after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Madrid at the opening of the alliance’s annual leaders summit, Mr. Biden said “NATO is strong and united” and that steps to be taken during the gathering will “further augment our collective strength.”

Mr. Biden opened his participation in the summit by announcing that the U.S. is establishing a permanent headquarters in Poland, sending two additional F-35 fighter jet squadrons to the United Kingdom and will send more air defence and other capabilities to Germany and Italy.

“Today I’m announcing the United States will enhance our force posture in Europe and respond to the changing security environment as well as strengthening our collective security,” he said.

Mr. Stoltenberg, who earlier on Wednesday said the alliance was facing its biggest challenge since World War II, welcomed Mr. Biden’s announcement.

“This really demonstrates your decisive leadership and strength in the trans-Atlantic bond,” Mr. Stoltenberg said.

Mr. Biden said the U.S. will permanently station the U.S. Army V Corps forward command in Poland, a move that he said would strengthen U.S.-NATO interoperability across the alliance’s eastern flank.

The move marks the first permanent basing of U.S. forces on NATO’s eastern edge. Mr. Biden added that the U.S. is also stepping up its rotational deployments of troops to the Baltic region.

Mr. Biden announced after arriving for the summit on Tuesday that the U.S. would base two additional destroyers at its naval base in Rota, Spain, bringing the total number to six.

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