NEW YORK, October 3 (RIA Novosti) – Recently-appointed NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will meet officials in Warsaw, Poland, and visit an air base there on October 6, the Western military alliance said in a statement on Friday.
The NATO chief will meet with Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski, Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak and other leaders and "will also pay a visit to Lask Air Base to meet NATO air force personnel involved in NATO assurance measures," according to the statement.
In light of the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, NATO has been ratcheting up its presence near Russia's borders. The alliance intensified its air patrols in Baltic states, deployed surveillance planes over Poland and Romania and sent its warships to the Black and Mediterranean seas, citing the need to better defend its allies.
On Wednesday, the United States announced it is deploying 700 soldiers as well as battle tanks in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland in the next couple of weeks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in September the crisis in eastern Ukraine, which has been provoked by the West, has mainly been used to resuscitate NATO.
A conflict between government forces and independence supporters in the southeastern regions of Ukraine, has claimed more than 3,500 lives since mid-April, according to the UN.
