WASHINGTON, September 2 (RIA Novosti) – NATO member states will discuss the creation of a new infrastructure along the alliance’s eastern border at the upcoming September 4-5 summit in Wales, according to White House press secretary Josh Earnest.
“The president along with other members of his national security team that will be traveling this week and discussing a whole range of issues that will look at the needs of NATO member states including what we can do to deal with hybrid warfare and other asymmetric threats,” Earnest told journalists Tuesday.
“The United States in cooperation with our allies plans to significantly increase the readiness of NATO response force to ensure that the alliance is prepared to respond to threats in a timely fashion. This will involve training, exercises and discussions about what kinds of infrastructure will be required in the Baltics and Poland and Romania and other states in the eastern frontier to deal with the world in which they face new concerns about Russian intentions,” Earnest said.
The press secretary refused to comment on the potential US military involvement in NATO’s response forces.
“I don’t have any announcements about American troops to make at this point. But this is the subject of discussions that are planned for later in the week,” Earnest said.
The plans on the improvement and modernization of NATO’s response forces have raised concerns in Russia, which has been watching the alliance gradually approach its western borders since the start of the Ukrainian crisis.
