BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Britain, Germany and the United States advanced plans on Tuesday to spearhead a new NATO force on Russia's border from next year, and Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered snap checks on combat readiness across his armed forces.

Weeks before a critical NATO summit in Warsaw, three of NATO's biggest military powers said they would each command a battalion across the eastern flank to help deter any show of force such as that deployed by Moscow in Crimea in 2014.

"Britain will lead one of the battalions," British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said at a meeting of NATO defense ministers, adding London will send up to 700 troops to the Baltics and Poland.

"That should send a very strong signal of our determination to defend the Baltic states and Poland in the face of continued Russian aggression," he said.

In a reminder of Russia's efforts to bolster its military readiness, its armed forces started carrying out spot checks on its units, as well of weapon and equipment depots.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the goal of the June 14-22 drill was to ensure the ability of his military to "carry out planned activities, including mobilization."

NATO's battalions are part of a wider deterrent to be approved at the Warsaw summit on July 8. It will involve troops on rotation, warehoused equipment and a highly mobile force backed by NATO's 40,000-strong rapid reaction unit.

NATO hopes the complex plan can discourage Russia from orchestrating the kind of campaign used to annex Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in February 2014 and which has left eastern allies nervous of their former Soviet overlord.

Berlin and Washington also said that they would send troops to the new force, which is expected to total about 4,000 soldiers, with contributions from other allies. France is sending a company of about 250 troops to Britain's battalion.

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Germany is likely to deploy to Lithuania, the United States to Poland and Britain to Estonia, on a six- to nine-month rotating basis. Other NATO nations will eventually take command responsibilities, diplomats told Reuters.

CANADA ANNOUNCEMENT SOON?

Western officials also acknowledged discussions in Canada to lead a fourth battalion, with a British official saying a decision could come as early as Wednesday. Reuters first reported on Canada's possible role last week.

Canada's battalion was expected to be based in Latvia, diplomats say, although Ottawa has yet to comment publicly.

The new deployments are apart from U.S. plans to provide an armored brigade, typically around 5,000 troops, plus extra equipment in Europe.

"There will be a continually present armored brigade combat team, which will bring in its own equipment with each rotation," said U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter. He said that on top of that, the United States would bring "a pre-positioned set of equipment for yet an additional armored brigade combat team which troops could fall in upon in a crisis."

While eastern allies welcome the deployments in NATO's biggest military build-up since the end of the Cold War, they want more support to defend against Russia's powerful arsenal.

With a warning last week from a senior U.S. commander that the alliance would have only 72 hours notice of a missile or ground attack, Baltic nations and Poland want a sophisticated anti-missile shield to deter Russia from gaining the upper hand.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said NATO was also considering a Romanian offer to command a multinational brigade which could coordinate alliance training and possibly play a deterrent role.

Russia sees NATO's deterrence plans as hostile. Moscow's envoy to the alliance has warned they threaten peace in central Europe. The Kremlin also says a U.S. ballistic missile shield, which Washington says is directed at protecting the alliance from Iran, is also escalating tensions.

The United States denies that. NATO says it is respecting a 1997 agreement with Moscow not to deploy substantial combat forces on Russia's borders.

"You don't invade with a few battalions, okay?" the U.S. envoy to NATO, Douglas Lute, told reporters. "But you can deter, and you can affect a potential aggressor's calculus in terms of cost, benefit and risks."




http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0Z01BC

Still thinking where the pretext would come from to drag Russia this time..

Like mh17 or more provocation in the areas where Russian citizens are in the baltics like latvia where some Russians are deprived the rigth to own an international passport. Can anyone imagine this happening in the 21st century ? I bet those ones will be the target to further drag russia to attack the baltics.

Just wondering, and thinking. I can bet these crooks are so hungary for blood and they will get in in full.

There is credible intel that Amerika, Britain & France are covertly planning to draft soldiers from their ex-colonies to serve as cannon fodders in this inevitable war between the Empire of Chaos & Russia , just like they did in ww2.

GMB must maintain utmost neutrality in this divenely ordained war, else the blood of any Nigerian sacrificed in this war will be on his head.

The great questions of the time will be decided, not by speeches & resolutions but by iron & blood.

In the meantime, let the nuclear fallout between the Good & Evil begin. Not A Step Backwards - Go Russia!

scully95:
Still thinking where the pretext would come from to drag Russia this time..

Like mh17 or more provocation in the areas where Russian citizens are in the baltics like latvia where some Russians are deprived the rigth to own an international passport. Can anyone imagine this happening in the 21st century ? I bet those ones will be the target to further drag russia to attack the baltics.

Just wondering, and thinking. I can bet these crooks are so hungary for blood and they will get in in full.

They should move back to russia na,so you want the west to go to bed while russia continue creating problems in the beltic abi?
Another cremea will not happen again,imagine putin spporting assad against syrian maginalised citizens,but working day and night to support the minority russian ukrain,I hope to you that is how it supposed to be?

AntiIPOB:
They should move back to russia na,so you want the west to go to bed while russia continue creating problems in the beltic abi?
Another cremea will not happen again,imagine putin spporting assad against syrian maginalised citizens,but working day and night to support the minority russian ukrain,I hope to you that is how it supposed to be?

did you say move back to russia? this is very typical of west killing just anyhow because of resources and land.

They should move back to russia coming from your mouth or brain ? they should forget about their land, where their great great grand mother was born.

lets even assume they want to relocate to russia like your idea, where is the passport to move back to the same russia that you claimed ?

when the western part of ukraine wanted to join eu or nato, would you tell them to also relocate to eu since common sense is not common any longer?


'imagine putin spporting assad against syrian maginalised citizens'


lol of the century.. now this is the problem when nigeria does not have an investigvative media like cctv or rt. they keep copying and pasting from the western media establishment.. now this is a big deal and a realproblem and another reason nigeria as a whole is still a puppet to the western zone.

no alternative investigatve media.

did you say putin supporting assad against syrian maginalized citizen.. omg .. now it's no longer free syrian army, it's now syrian maginalised citizens ?

this is the same game this zionist controled regime back then played and failed. during biafran war. russia or soviet union very much supported nigeria against their wish. would you also call that 'marginalized citizen'?

well, what's happening in ukraine and syria happens everyday in african countries. since african countries have always been a testing ground for any ideaology. but even as at that it failed 4 decades ago.

will fail again in nigeria and is already failing in syria.

scully95:
Still thinking where the pretext would come from to drag Russia this time..

Just wondering, and thinking. I can bet these crooks are so hungary for blood and they will get in in full.

I have been wondering myself. I'm willing to bet that the false flag would be staged in Syria. Apart from the ample amount of Islamist cannon fodder to be utilized, there has been an increase in Western special forces there and besides, it's in line with most prophecies as to where WWIII will start from.

They are indeed desperate for that war. The investigation into MH17 for instance is a farce they can't keep with for much longer. They will have to come clean if Russia continues being patient

scully95:


did you say move back to russia? this is very typical of west killing just anyhow because of resources and land.

They should move back to russia coming from your mouth or brain ? they should forget about their land, where their great great grand mother was born.

lets even assume they want to relocate to russia like your idea, where is the passport to move back to the same russia that you claimed ?

when the western part of ukraine wanted to join eu or nato, would you tell them to also relocate to eu since common sense is not common any longer?


'imagine putin spporting assad against syrian maginalised citizens'


lol of the century.. now this is the problem when nigeria does not have an investigvative media like cctv or rt. they keep copying and pasting from the western media establishment.. now this is a big deal and a realproblem and another reason nigeria as a whole is still a puppet to the western zone.

no alternative investigatve media.

did you say putin supporting assad against syrian maginalized citizen.. omg .. now it's no longer free syrian army, it's now syrian maginalised citizens ?

this is the same game this zionist controled regime back then played and failed. during biafran war. russia or soviet union very much supported nigeria against their wish. would you also call that 'marginalized citizen'?

well, what's happening in ukraine and syria happens everyday in african countries. since african countries have always been a testing ground for any ideaology. but even as at that it failed 4 decades ago.

will fail again in nigeria and is already failing in syria.

Well I think u ve too much time in ur hands to lecture that dolt, most people who don't understand a thing abt something re quick to latch onto wateva propaganda that suits their line of reasoning without proper checks.

Before I even got to the point where he said Russia was backing Assad against his own people, I knew he didnt even ve d slightest understanding of wat he was talking abt because if he did he did he would ve known dat his almighty U. S with Saudi Arabia did all they could to continue to prop up d AL Khalifa family of Bahrain despite having been in power for hundreds of years nd the citizenry were now yearning for a change nd how were the citizens treated?

If it's d U. S committing d an offence then it's cool bt if another country esp Russia does same it then becomes a crime in the eyes of western propagandists, so much for double standards.

Zoharariel:
There is credible intel that Amerika, Britain & France are covertly planning to draft soldiers from their ex-colonies to serve as cannon fodders in this inevitable war between the Empire of Chaos & Russia , just like they did in ww2.

GMB must maintain utmost neutrality in this divenely ordained war, else the blood of any Nigerian sacrificed in this war will be on his head.

The great questions of the time will be decided, not by speeches & resolutions but by iron & blood.

In the meantime, let the nuclear fallout between the Good & Evil begin. Not A Step Backwards - Go Russia!

Bad market. No single Nigerian or African soldier would go and die for Britain and its war chest. We haven't forgotten the diabolic British policy of Divide and Rule vis Indirect Rule that are still incapacitating our national life till date. (no thanks to our zombie and corrupt leaders.) And we have seen how these hypocrites really helped us during boko and ebola. So, i don't see how they would succeed in convincing us to be their canon folders. We go just sit down here they observe them committing suicide, and when the remaining ones would start running to Africa amidst the Nuclear holocaust, the Africans we also chase them back just the same way they are doing to us now.

This prophecy said it all...

"All that I have seen of war before is only child’s play compared to this one, and it will be ended with a nuclear atom bomb. The air will be so polluted that one cannot draw one’s breath. It will cover several continents, America, Japan, Australia and the wealthy nations. The water will be ruined (contaminated?). We can no longer till the soil. The result will be that only a remnant will remain. The remnant in the wealthy countries will try to flee to the poor countries, but they will be as hard on us as we were on them.

http://www.inthebeginning.com/articles/norway1968.htm

I just pity how this countries are gradually deploying to their own graves..

Pathetic... Man is a failed project.