The White House has corrected President Joe Biden and reaffirmed that "we are not sending U.S. troops to Ukraine."
Speaking to troops from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division stationed in Rzeszów, Poland, Biden said that they would be going to Ukraine.
"You're going to see when you're there, you're going to see women, young people standing in the middle, in the front of a damn tank saying 'I'm not leaving,'" Biden told the troops while meeting with them on Friday. Biden tells the 82nd Airborne they're going to Ukraine:
"You’re going to see when you’re there, you’re going to see women, young people standing in the middle, in the front of a damn tank saying 'I’m not leaving.'" pic.twitter.com/M2nu77yUw7
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 25, 2022
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and other US officials were also present during the meeting.
During his first State of Union address at the beginning of March, Biden promised that he would not be putting American boots on the ground in Ukraine.
"Let me be clear -- our forces are not engaged and will not engage in the conflict with Russian forces in Ukraine," Biden vowed.
The statement spread like wild fire across news outlets and social media, as people expressed their confusion with the seemingly contradictory statements.
On Friday afternooon, a spokesperson told White House reporter Andrew Feinberg that there has been no change in their position about sending troops to Ukraine. UPDATE: A @WhiteHouse spokesperson tells me: "The President has been clear we are not sending U.S. troops to Ukraine and there is no change in that position."
— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) March 25, 2022
"A White House spokesperson tells me: 'The President has been clear we are not sending U.S. troops to Ukraine and there is no change in that position,'" Feinberg tweeted.
There are approximately 10,500 US troops stationed in Poland and roughly 100,000 across Europe.
