NATO Preps "Biggest Military Build-Up on Russia's Borders Since Cold War"

NATO is pushing all allies to deploy more troops and military equipment to Russia’s borders, further ratcheting up tensions as the West prepares for “its biggest military build-up on Russia’s borders since the Cold War,” as Reuters observed.

“France, Denmark, Italy and other allies are expected to join the four battle groups led by the United States, Germany, Britain, and Canada to go to Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia, with forces ranging from armored infantry to drones,” Reuters reported.

“With the U.S. openly talking [about] a war with Russia, the continued deployments seem far from a purely defensive measure.”
—Jason Ditz, Antiwar.com“The battle groups will be backed by NATO’s 40,000-strong rapid-reaction force,” noted Deutsche Welle, “and if need be, further follow-on forces, for any potential conflict, which could move into Baltic states and Poland on rotation.”

Prior to Wednesday’s North Atlantic Council meeting, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told Reuters that the military commitments would be “a clear demonstration of our transatlantic bond.”

The U.K. was the first to release the specifics of its plan: the nation will deploy 800 troops alongside tanks and drones, according to the Wall Street Journal. “That battalion will be defensive in nature, but it will be fully combat-capable,” British defense secretary Michael Fallon told the newspaper.

This latest show of force follows the United States’ March announcement that it plans to greatly increase its troop numbers in Eastern Europe, and fulfills NATO’s July promise to bolster its military presence on Russia’s borders, purportedly in response to Russian aggression.