BRUSSELS: Britain stated it will send fighter jets to Romania next year, and the United States promised troops, tanks and artillery to Poland in what is the NATO's biggest military build-up on Russia's borders since the notorious Cold War. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the trop contributions to a new 4000-strong force in the Baltics and eastern Europe were a measured response to what they believe are 330,000 Russian troops stationed on Russia's western flank near Moscow.
"This month alone, Russia has deployed nuclear-capable Iskander missiles to Kaliningrad and suspended a weapons-grade plutonium agreement with the United States," Stoltenberg said. The ballistic missiles can hit targets across Poland and the Baltics, although NATO officials declined to say if Russia had moved nuclear warheads to Kaliningrad. The NATO plans to set up four battle groups with a total of some 4000 troops from early next year, backed by a 40,000-strong rapid-reaction force. US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter also announced a "battle-ready battalion task force" of about 900 soldiers to be sent to eastern Poland, along with a separate force equipped with tanks and other heavy equipment to move across eastern Europe. "It's a major sign of the US commitment to strengthening deterrence here," he said.
Meanwhile British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said Britain would send an 800-strong battalion to Estonia, supported by French and Danish troops, starting from May. The US will get its troops in position by June. Fallon added that London is also sending Typhoon fighter aircraft to Romania to patrol around the Black Sea, partly to support Turkey. "Although we are leaving the European Union, we will be doing more to help secure the eastern and southern flanks of NATO," he said.
Other NATO allies including Germany, and Canada also pledged forces at a defense ministers meet in Brussels on the very day two Russian warships armed with cruise missiles entered the Baltic Sea between Sweden and Denmark. Canada said it was sending 450 troops to Latvia, joined by 140 military personnel from Italy. Germany said it was sending somewhere between 400 and 600 troops to Lithuania, with additional forces from the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, Croatia, and Luxembourg.
NATO tensions with Russia began since Crimea and the West's decision to impose retaliatory sanctions. The US-led alliance plans are a little too much for the Kremlin considering Russia's grievances at NATO's expansion eastwards.
