NATO troops planning drills in Europe, Finland and Sweden join
2 Min Read
Finland and Sweden, not yet NATO members, will also be joining the drills.
-
NATO troops planning drills in Europe in an attempt to threaten Russia
Tens of thousands of troops from NATO and other North Atlantic states will participate in a series of military drills throughout Europe in the coming weeks as Western governments attempt to display a show of force against Russia.
The drills will take place in Finland, Poland, North Macedonia, and along the Estonian-Latvian border, and will be supported by planes, tanks, artillery, and armored assault vehicles. NATO and the Joint Expeditionary Force, which comprises non-NATO countries Finland and Sweden.
The UK's field army commander, claims the drills will "deter aggression."
In addition, the deployments are scheduled for this week in Finland, where US, UK, Estonian, and Latvian troops will take part in Exercise Arrow in an attempt to work close to Finnish forces.
This week, 4,500 troops will participate in Exercise Swift Response in North Macedonia, which will include forces from the United States, the United Kingdom, Albania, France, and Italy.
Read more: Sweden, Finland to submit NATO applications
UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace claims the drills are a "show of solidarity and strength."
On Thursday, NATO’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that the bloc is preparing to support Ukraine "for a long time," for the duration of the military conflict with Russia, even if it drags on "for months and years."
Stoltenberg claimed at a youth summit in Brussels that it is in the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the military action because he "started the war."
Russia had launched a special military operation for several reasons, chiefly NATO's eastward expansion. Other reasons were the Ukrainian shelling of Donbass and the killing of the people of the Donetsk People's Republic and Lugansk People's Republic, in addition to Moscow wanting to "denazify" and demilitarize Ukraine.
