Baku-APA. NATO is ready to agree on Wednesday its boldest steps yet to deter Russia from any attack in the Baltics or eastern Europe, setting out ways to rapidly deploy air, naval and ground forces without resorting to Cold War-era military bases, APA reports quoting Reuters.
In an effort to dissuade Moscow after its 2014 annexation of Crimea, NATO defense ministers are setting up a network of new alliance outposts, forces on rotation, warehoused equipment and regular war games, all backed by a rapid-reaction force.
"We need to deploy troops and ships to deter the aggression, the threats that we have seen," British Defence Minister Michael Fallon said as he arrived for the meeting in Brussels. "NATO means what it says, that we are ready to deter any kind of pressure."
Troop numbers, spending plans and logistics are still to be decided, but NATO officials say the decision to go ahead with such a substantial military presence on NATO's eastern borders will be one of the biggest for the alliance in decades.
That has been cemented by the United States' decision to seek a $3.4 billion budget for European reassurance initiatives in 2017. The four-fold increase in Washington's spending in the region will go to rotate more troops through the region and provide more tanks, armored vehicles and other support.
It reinforces the message from U.S. President Barack Obama in 2014 that NATO will help ensure the independence of the three Baltic states, which for decades were part of the Soviet Union.
U.S. Defence Secretary Ash Carter, speaking to reporters traveling with him to Brussels, said it was important for all NATO allies to increase military spending. "I'll be looking for others in NATO to echo (us) in our investment," Carter said
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