“The
Pentagon is reportedly poised to store battle tanks, infantry
fighting vehicles and other heavy equipment for up to 5,000 US troops
in Eastern European and the Baltic countries. It says the move is to
reassure its NATO allies. According to the New York Times citing
American and allied officials, the equipment would be stored in each
of the three Baltic nations: Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, as well
as Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and possibly Hungary. The move, if it is
approved, would be the most serious deployment of military hardware
in Europe since the end of the Cold War; although the plan falls
short of a permanent presence of boots on the ground.”
“The
stocks of heavy weapons would be enough to equip a brigade of about
3,000 to 5,000 soldiers and is about the same as the Pentagon kept in
Kuwait after the 1990 invasion of Iraq. But the proposal still has
some way to go before it becomes a reality, and requires approval
from Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter and the White House. It has
also stirred concern among some NATO allies about the wisdom of the
plan and Russian reaction to the deployment.”
“Mark
Galeotti, a professor at New York University, who has written
extensively on the military and security services in Russia was
quoted by the New York Times as saying 'Tanks on the ground, even if
they haven’t people in them, make for a significant marker.'”
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