BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — NATO will invite Russia as an observer to Trident Juncture, the alliance's largest exercise in over a decade, commanding officer for the drill Gen. Hans-Lothar Domrose said Wednesday.
"We invite international observers, there is no secret when we do this exercise. There is a secret what decisions I will take, but the rest is transparent, and my decisions during the exercise will be transparent once I've taken them. So Russia and all the others who are interested… will be invited," Domrose told reporters.
The aim of the drills is to train and test the NATO Response Force, a high readiness and technologically advanced unit comprising of land, air, maritime forces.
It is expected that over 36,000 military personnel from 30 countries, including NATO member-states and seven partners, namely Australia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland, Macedonia, Sweden and Ukraine, will participate in the drills. The European Union, the African Union and a number of international humanitarian organizations have confirmed their participation as observers.
In September 2014, NATO committed to improve the readiness of its forces in Europe, particularly along its eastern border with Russia. At that time, NATO announced it would rotate troop deployments in Eastern Europe and the Baltic states, and forward base equipment among member states.
Moscow has repeatedly denied the allegations and warned the weapons build-up and military exercises on its borders are provocative and can destabilize the region.
In June 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Moscow remains open to cooperating with its neighbors, and has no aggressive plans.
