U.S. Ready To Send Troops To Europe

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31773, 2 September 1968, Page 1

U.S. Ready To Send Troops To Europe

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WASHINGTON, September 1.

The United States stood ready to reinforce its troops in Europe if necessary to redress the military balance upset by the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia, informed sources said today.

Ambassadors of N.A.T.O. countries were told at a State Department meeting on Saturday that the United States was profoundly disturbed by the Czech crisis and by rumours of imminent Russian moves against Rumania.

The envoys were briefed by the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs. Mr John Leddy, as the State Department openly expressed its concern.

It warned about Russian actions which could lead to a new N.A.T.O. military buildup and the return of the cold war of the Stalin era two decades ago. PRESIDENTIAL PRESSURE The President clearly was exerting pressure in an attempt to persuade the Russians not to deepen the crisis. Officials emphasised reports of Russian military movements for possible use against Rumania but said they simply did not know whether they were a prelude to an attack

or a form of psychological pressure. The State Department yesterday said the invasion affected the military balance in Europe and changed the status quo.

It noted that there were larger Soviet forces in central Europe than at any time since the earlv post-war period and said the changed situation was of significance to the United States, and its N.A.T.O. allies. In the light of recent events, “we are reviewing with our allies what the implication may be for existing arrangements to provide for our common security,” it said. Tbe State Department’s comment did not mention Rumania but it underlined President Johnson’s decision to take the extraordinary step

of urging the Russians not to turn Rumania into another Czechoslovakia. Officials said that there was no hard information to indicate the Russians were about to move against Rumania's liberal Communist regime. But unverified reports of Russian troop and tank movements along the Rumanian border could not be ignored and the Administration was on the alert.

President Johnson, in remarks at San Antonio, Texas, stopped short of giving an ultimatum to the Russians, presumably because a direct Soviet confrontation in Eastern Europe, which Moscow views as its own preserve, would risk nuclear war. But bis remarks went much further than anything he had said before the invasion of Czechoslovakia almost two weeks ago.