The United States is ready to deploy heavy weapons and army units in some Baltic and Eastern European countries.
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About it writes the Kyiv weekly “New Time” with reference to a publication in The New York Times.
According to the Pentagon's proposal, tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, other heavy equipment and more than XNUMX troops should be stationed in Eastern European NATO countries to contain Russia.
If the Pentagon's proposal is accepted, US troops will be deployed for the first time in the territory of the former USSR and countries that were part of the Soviet zone of influence. In particular, the equipment is expected to be sent to Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and, possibly, Hungary.
This proposal must be approved by US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter and the White House. Sources of The New York Times admitted that Washington may decide to deploy heavy weapons in Europe before the meeting of NATO defense ministers, which will be held in Brussels on June 24-25.
After NATO's eastward expansion in 2004, when the Baltic countries also joined the alliance, the United States and its allies tried to avoid permanent deployment of military units on the territory of new NATO members, seeking different forms of partnership with Russia.
Interestingly, half of the population of NATO countries opposed protecting allies in the event of a hypothetical conflict with Russia.