Russia on Alert following NATO Activities
The tensions between Russia and Ukraine, and in turn Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization continue to be quite high. CNN reported that “As the U.S. and several Eastern European NATO countries conduct a series of military exercises near Russia’s border, Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his Northern Fleet “to full alert in a snap combat readiness exercise” in the Arctic, state-run media reported Monday.”
And while a Russian official says that this does not have to do with international actions, others believe that it is a response to NATO presence and activity in the region. According to the report, “”The main task of the (combat readiness drill) is to assess the armed forces from the Northern Fleet’s capabilities in fulfilling tasks in providing military security of the Russian Federation in the Arctic region,” Russian Defense Minister Gen. Sergey Shoigu told the media outlet. “New challenges and threats of military security demand the further heightening of military capabilities of the armed forces and special attention will be paid to the state of the newly formed strategic merging (of forces) in the North.””
Russia has been quite critical of NATO, and their activities following the Cold War. Amongst some of their activities have been the following:
In its largest military operation in decades, Norway sent 5,000 troops to conduct military exercises between Alta and Lakselv in Finnmark county, which borders Russia, according to the Barents Observer.
• About 100 U.S. soldiers are expected to conduct an exercise this month using a Patriot missile battery and a Polish air defense brigade “at a location on Polish territory,” Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren said. The exercise is part of Operation Atlantic Resolve, which began in response to Russia’s involvement in Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea last year, the U.S. Defense Department said.
• Also as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve, the U.S. Army will soon send armored Stryker vehicles on a 1,100-mile convoy through six European countries to show solidarity with its allies. The “highly visible” convoy will travel through Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia and the Czech Republic en route to Vilseck, Germany, a U.S. Army Europe spokesman told the military newspaper, Stars and Stripes.
• In a “regularly scheduled” exercise aimed at demonstrating NATO’s commitment to “collective defense” in the Black Sea, the Standing NATO Maritime Group Two — a collection of warships — will train with the Bulgarian, Romanian and Turkish navies and visit Varna, Bulgaria, to meet with local authorities and navy officials, NATO said.
• The U.S. Air Force moved a dozen A-10 Thunderbolt “tankbuster” attack jets to an air base in Germany and the U.S. military placed hundreds of tanks and military vehicles in Latvia, where they’ll be matched up with 3,000 troops from Fort Stewart, Georgia.
Here the situation is that NATO clearly is concerned about Russian actions in the Ukraine, as they were with regards to early actions in the Crimea. And as they are carrying out different military movements, Russia in turn are themselves conducting related actions. It is evident that the two sides do not trust one another, and both seem to worry about the aggressive nature of each others’ actions. This does not bode well for a hope in the de-escalation of the conflict in the Ukraine, as well as with regards to better international relations between Russia and NATO states, although of course the hope is that the Ukraine conflict will be resolved peacefully, and as soon as possible.
