In response to fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, US President Joe Biden said on Friday that a limited number of US troops will be sent to Eastern Europe to boost NATO's presence.

The United States and other Western countries have expressed worry over Russia's army buildup along its border with Ukraine, fearing that Russia is contemplating an invasion. Russia claims it has no plans to invade Ukraine and has asked NATO for security assurances, including a guarantee that Ukraine would not join the military alliance.

"In the short term, I'll be deploying soldiers to Eastern Europe and NATO countries," Biden told reporters.

In a news conference last week, Biden stated that in the case of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, the US would enhance its deployment in the region.

"We're going to increase troop presence in Poland, in Romania, etcetera if, in fact, [Putin] moves [troops into Ukraine]," Biden said. "They are part of NATO."

Russia has a "wide range of alternatives"

Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stated on Friday that Russia's military buildup along the Ukrainian border has reached the stage where Russian President Vladimir Putin has a full range of military choices.

"While we don't believe that President Putin has made a final decision to use these forces against Ukraine, he now has the capability," Austin said at a Pentagon news conference.

According to Austin, Putin could deploy any part of his military to capture Ukrainian towns and "important territory," as well as to conduct out "coercive or provocative political measures," such as the recognition of pro-Russian breakaway entities in eastern Ukraine.

The US and NATO publicly rejected Russian demands for security assurances earlier this week, while also delivering counterproposals to Russia. The counterproposals given by the US, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, were better than those sent by NATO.