U.S.
to pre-position tanks, artillery in Baltics, eastern Europe
Send a link to a friend
[June 23, 2015]
By Phil Stewart
TALLINN (Reuters) - The United States will
pre-position tanks, artillery and other military equipment in eastern
and central Europe, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced on
Tuesday, moving to reassure NATO allies unnerved by Russia's
intervention in Ukraine.
|
Carter, during a trip to Tallinn, said the Baltic states -
Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia -- as well as Bulgaria, Romania and
Poland agreed to host elements of this equipment. Some of the
equipment would also be located in Germany.
After Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea region last year, NATO leaders
agreed to step up exercises and rotations of forces through NATO
allies in eastern Europe as well as storing hardware there for use
in an emergency.
The United States had not formally disclosed where in Europe the
equipment would be stored but news reports about military planning
triggered an angry response from Moscow ahead of Carter's trip to
Europe this week.
HYBRID WARFARE
A Russian defense ministry official said stationing tanks and heavy
weapons in NATO states on Russia's border would be the most
aggressive U.S. act since the Cold War.
President Vladimir Putin announced Russia would add more than 40
intercontinental ballistic missiles to its nuclear arsenal this
year. Carter has condemned Russia's "loose rhetoric" involving
nuclear arms.
A fact sheet provided by the U.S. military said the United States'
pre-positioning would include about 250 tanks, Bradley infantry
fighting vehicles and self-propelled howitzers.
The amount of equipment that would be temporarily stored in each
country would be enough to supply either a company, so enough for
about 150 soldiers, or a battalion, or about 750 soldiers. Much of
it is already in Europe, officials say.
[to top of second column] |
Moscow denies providing troops or arms to pro-Russian separatists in
eastern Ukraine. But neighboring NATO countries, especially the
Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, which have Russian
minorities, fear Russia could foment trouble on their territories.
U.S. officials say Ukraine has illustrated the importance of being
able to counter "hybrid warfare", the blend of unidentified troops,
propaganda and economic pressure that the West says Russia has used
there.
It also involves cyber warfare. Carter also announced plans on
Tuesday to work with an Estonia-based NATO cyber center to help
allies develop cyber defense strategies and critical infrastructure
protection planning.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart; editing by Ralph Boulton)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
|