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On May 28, Obama met with Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski and Prime Minister Donald Tusk, discussing, among other issues, reaffirming a US military presence with "American boots on the ground," including a permanent aerial detachment of F-16s and C-130 transport planes.
White House national security official Liz Sherwood-Randall said:
"What we will be doing is rotating trainers and aircraft to Poland so they can become more inter-operable with NATO. It will be a small permanent presence on the ground and then a rotational presence that will be more substantial."
On May 28, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said:
"To the east of the Oder River (dividing Germany and Poland), American forces will appear, and this at a time when America is reducing its overall military presence in Europe."
In fact, redeployment with interceptor missiles, other offensive weapons, and boots on the ground close to Russia's borders, not reduction, is planned, what clearly has Moscow officials alarmed.
On May 29, however, Obama disingenuously downplayed those concerns, reaffirming mutual defense and inviting Russia to participate in European missile defense plans, saying:
"I am very proud of (America's) reset process (with Russia). We believe missile defense is something where we can cooperate with Russia....This will not be a threat to the strategic balance."
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