Asia

US-Russia confrontation in Baltic region

Published

8 years ago

December 16, 2016

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Read Time: 2 minutes

The tensions between US and Russia mounted as the additional United States and NATO troops are positioning themselves in the first week of January 2017 in Poland, Baltic nations and Romania before Donald Trump’s inauguration, Russian led military bloc that includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are meeting in St Petersburg on December 26th for appropriate response to NATO’s move.

An armoured brigade of US combat team from Fort Carson is set to be deployed in Poland and other US-NATO battalions in Baltic nations of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and Romania.

This heightening of activities were due to 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and the increased presence of Russian military and deployment of S-400 surface-to-air missiles and nuclear capable Iskander systems in the exclave of Kaliningrad bordering Poland and Lithuania thus destabilizing European security. Due to Russia’s aggressive military designs, Baltic nations have doubled their military spending including hardware and weaponry.

The North Atlantic Treaty organization (NATO) is a military alliance of 28 countries formed on the purpose that an armed attack against one Nato member shall be considered an attack against all of them. (Nato member includes Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, UK, USA, Greece, Turkey, Germany, Spain, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Albania, Croatia)

The Kremlin claims that military posturing is aimed at countering US nuclear arsenal in the event of war. The United States activated the first phase of missile defense system in Romania in May and another stage is due in Poland in 2018.

Actually President Vladimir Putin ultimate aim is to practically destroy NATO and bring the old European countries that were previously under the Soviet Union back into the Russian empire.

To achieve this end, Russian government has been hacking politicians servers, US government officials, agencies, violating the rules in order to change the world order and dividing the European Union by funding the anti-EU political parties and sow discord over Muslim immigration caused due to crisis in Middle East especially Syria and Iraq.

It is now incumbent on Trump to checkmate Russian designs.

Article Courtesy : Arti Bali, Senior Journalist & Analyst