Washington: US President Joe Biden announcing a small troop deployment to Eastern Europe even as top Pentagon officials backed a renewed push for diplomacy, sought to maintain pressure on Russian leader Vladimir Putin over Ukraine on Friday.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Western leaders to avoid stirring panic over the massive Russian troop buildup on his country’s borders, Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed on the need for de-escalation. Neither Putin nor his European and American counterparts had until now appeared ready to give ground in the week’s long crisis, the worst in decades between Russia and the West.

Biden said he would soon send a small number of US troops to bolster the NATO presence in Eastern Europe as tensions remain heightened. US already have tens of thousands of troops stationed across mostly Western Europe. US and NATO responses did not take into account Russia’s fundamental concerns including preventing NATO’s expansion, according to the Kremlin. Russia has also demanded a pullback of NATO forces deployed to Eastern European and ex-Soviet countries that joined the alliance after the Cold War.