Ex-NATO chief says Russia 'deterred' by U.S. troops

The United States will send nearly 3,000 extra troops to Poland and Romania to shield Eastern Europe from a potential spillover from the crisis over the massing of Russian troops near Ukraine, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.

On Monday, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said 8,500 U.S. troops would be sent to bolster the NATO Response Force (NRF) which has yet to be deployed.

"I think this is having an impact, because remember, this is what Mr. Putin is trying to stop, a movement into the front area and I think what he's beginning to see is that his actions are causing the very thing he wants to stop," General Philip Breedlove said.

Breedlove, a retired four-star U.S. Air Force General, served as commander of U.S. European Command, and NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe under President Barack Obama from May 2013 to May 2016.