The first American troops have arrived in Latvia, as NATO reinforces its eastern flank after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine.

Latvia shares a border directly with Russia.

Early on Thursday, a small force of 40 troops from the 173rd Airborne Brigade, known as the Sky Soldiers, arrived in Latvia from their home base in Italy.

The deployment is part of a movement of 800 American troops and equipment into the former Soviet republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which are all now part of the NATO alliance.

President Joe Biden has said that the movement is defensive in nature and that the U.S. has “no intention of fighting Russia.”