New Delhi, Feb 25 (IANS): NATO and the US have made it clear that no troops will be sent, leaving Ukraine's military -- far inferior to Russia -- to hold off the assault alone. Few expect it to emerge victorious from what is almost certain to be a prolonged, bloody, and vicious war, Daily Mail reported.

NATO is expected to focus its efforts on stopping the war from spilling over into neighbouring countries, Daily Mail reported.

Poland, a member of the alliance, shares an extensive land border with Ukraine.

The Baltic states -- Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, also NATO members -- will now fear a Russian assault.

The alliance began moving its forces early Thursday, putting 100 warplanes on high alert in Europe whole moving more troops to the Baltics, the report said.

Speaking in an emergency White House press conference, Biden called Putin a 'pariah' on the international stage and called on the West to stand up to the 'bully'.

But he insisted the US would not be helping Ukraine with troops.

He said: 'Our forces are not, and will not be, engaged in the conflict with Russia in Ukraine. Our forces are not going to Europe to fight in Ukraine, but to defend our Nato allies and reassure those allies in the east.

'When the history of this era is written, Putin's choice to make a totally unjustifiable war on Ukraine will have left Russia weaker and the rest of the world stronger.

'He has much larger ambitions than Ukraine. He wants to, in fact, re-establish the former Soviet Union. That's what this is about.'