Nato allies are mulling the deployment of 4,000 troops to countries bordering Russia in a bid to deter the Kremlin from military adventurism against the bloc’s eastern most members, according to reports.
The proposals are part of a wide-ranging debate within the alliance about the long-term response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and support for a separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine.
Proposals being considered including deploying troops to Eastern Europe under direct Nato command in peacetime, in an unprecedented move that will likely be greeted with fury in Moscow, according to diplomats and military officials interviewed by the Wall Street Journal.
One plan reportedly under consideration would see battalions of 800 to 1,000 troops deployed to Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. A less extensive plan would see a single battalion deployed to the region.
Britain, which currently has 150 troops deployed to the Baltic States, would have to agree to place its forces there under Nato command.
Diplomats and military chiefs are believed to be keen to “send a message” to Moscow that the alliance is well coordinated and committed to defending its eastern most member states.
Several eastern members including Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia, have called for a significant strengthening of the alliance’s military presence to the region to deter possible Russian aggression.
But others, notably Germany, are said to be wary of making a large deployment that could provoke a response from Russia when the ceasefire in Ukraine appears to be holding.
Credit to The Telegraph
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