RFE/RL: Baltic presence necessary to stop 'Russian aggression' says NATO commander - Jul. 13, 2018

RFE/RL: Baltic presence necessary to stop ‘Russian aggression’ says NATO commander

Lithuanian Defense Minister Raimundas Karoblis, US Defense Secretary James Mattis and Latvian Defense Minister Raimonds Bergmanis are pictured after they met with US troops deployed in Lithuania, with representatives of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, and with soldiers of the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battalion Battlegroup in Lithuania at the General Silvestras Zukauskas Training Area in Pabrade on May 10, 2017. US Defence Secretary James Mattis holds talks with Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite and defence ministers from the trio of Baltic NATO states where the alliance is deploying battle groups for the first time as tripwires against possible Russian adventurism.

Photo by AFP

NATO’s deployment of additional resources to the Baltic region despite Russia’s opposition was a “necessary step” based on Moscow’s “aggressive actions,” the Western military alliance’s supreme commander says.

U.S. General Curtis Scaparrotti, speaking to RFE/RL on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Brussels on July 12, said that “four battalions is not a threat to Russia,” referring to the additional forces stationed on the alliance’s eastern flank and in Poland in recent months.