US to announce 'long-term' military reinforcements in Europe
3 Min Read
The US will announce new long-term military deployments across Europe at the NATO summit in Madrid, according to a US official.
-
US to announce 'long-term' military reinforcements in Europe
A US official said Tuesday that the US will announce new long-term military deployments across Europe in response to Russia's threat during the NATO summit in Madrid.
According to National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, "Specific announcements tomorrow on land, sea, and air of additional force posture commitments over the long term" will be made.
The forces will be focused on the Baltics, the Balkans, and NATO's eastern flank bordering Russia. NATO will issue a "historic set of deliverables... on the issue of force posture," according to Sullivan.
He emphasized that the alliance's increased presence in Europe is not just a reaction to the immediate instability caused by Russia's military operation in Ukraine and the ensuing war, which is now in its fourth month, but also to a "long-term change in the strategic reality."
Read next: US set to keep 100,000 troops in Europe, increasing tensions
"In the summit, you will see the alliance follow through on that commitment and the United States follow through on that commitment," he said.
The United States will "be making specific announcements tomorrow on land, sea, and air of additional force posture commitments over the long term, beyond the duration of this crisis, however long it goes on," Sullivan said.
He stated that one such announcement will be the stationing of six US naval destroyers at the US base in Rota, southern Spain, rather than the current four.
When asked about Russian President Vladimir Putin's threat to base nuclear-capable missiles and airplanes in neighboring ally Belarus, Sullivan said this would be "a matter of concern for the entire NATO alliance. It is a matter of concern for the United States. And it is something that we will take into account as we think about our own force posture."
Read next: UK Army Chief says British troops will have to fight in Europe
According to Sullivan, the long-standing failure of many alliance members to meet their pledge of spending at least 2% of GDP on military budgets is being addressed quickly.
There has been "a marked increase in national contributions by countries to the point where we anticipate at this summit, you will see that a strong majority of NATO allies will be either at the two percent... benchmark or on track to meet it by 2024," Sullivan said.
He called this "a substantial shift in the intensity and commitment of NATO allies in terms of putting their money where their mouth is."
It is worth mentioning that one of the reasons behind President Putin's special military operation in Ukraine is NATO's military eastward expansion, which sows seeds of conflict and is slammed as "unacceptable" by several countries.
Despite that, the US is willing to go as far as causing war in the region and elsewhere all for the sake of putting its hands on as many resources as possible and consolidating its military presence, which often ends with an invasion or occupation, across the globe.
