Russia’s relations with the West hit new low following media leaks that the U.S. administration is considering substantial increase in American military presence in the Baltic States and Eastern Europe.
The original story was run by The New York Times under the heading “U.S. Is Poised to Put Heavy Weaponry in Eastern Europe” and evoked a flurry of comments from the high ranking-military officials, representing EU states which, if agreed upon, can accommodate fresh arrivals of US heavy weaponry.
In what can be seen as another proof Obama administration is obsessed with the idea of new deterrence, while talking of the alleged “Russian threat” and is planning to use ex-communist states as a spring-board in its military plans, Polish Defense Minister Tomash Semonyak confirmed negotiations on the deployment of US military hardware on Polish territory are gaining momentum.
Here is a quote from the story, written by Eric Schmitt and Steven Lee Myersjune: “The proposal, if approved, would represent the first time since the end of the Cold War that the United States has stationed heavy military equipment in the newer NATO member nations in Eastern Europe that had once been part of the Soviet sphere of influence”.
Meantime, Russian Defense ministry officials and military experts note that should the prepositioning of American heavy weapons take place, Moscow would be left with no option but to deploy offensive weapons and rapid reaction task force on its Western borders.
Andrei Fyodorov, former deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, director of the Center for Political Research and Consulting Foundation (studio guest), Dmitry Babich, political analalyst (studio guest), Jan Van Benthem, foreign commentator at the Nederlands Dagblad(The Netherlands Daily) commented on the issue.
