The member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will begin, next week, the largest series of military exercises since the Cold War, with more than 90,000 soldiers and months in duration, according to the organization's commander-general in the Europe, General Christopher Cavoli, this Thursday (18).
The operation, dubbed Steadfast Defender 24, has already been carried out by the organization in other years, but returns at a time when Russia's war against Kiev takes on new proportions, with Moscow's attacks intensifying. against large Ukrainian cities.
NATO is not directly involved in the conflict, however it has shown support for Volodymyr Zelensky's government since the beginning of the fighting in Eastern Europe, through the different countries that make up the military alliance. Currently, soldiers allied with Putin control around 20% of Ukraine's territory.
Cavoli said the military will participate in a series of joint exercises in which they will work on the scenario of a “Russian attack” on one of the 31 member countries. “The alliance will demonstrate its ability to reinforce the Atlantic and European region with a transatlantic movement of forces,” he said.
Despite this, the commander stated that the maneuvers do not have a specific motivation and take place as part of the organization's annual exercises.
NATO, an alliance formed by the Armed Forces of 31 Western countries, including the USA, has as one of its proposals the involvement in conflicts, if any of the member countries are invaded. The exercises will also feature the cooperation of soldiers from Sweden, a country that is not yet part of the alliance, but has already formally requested its entry.
According to Cavoli, the operations will show that “NATO can conduct and sustain complex multi-domain operations for several months, over thousands of kilometers, from the High North to Central and Eastern Europe, and in any conditions,” he said. .
NATO Military Committee Chairman Admiral Rob Bauer said this is “a record number of troops mobilized to carry out an exercise of this size, across the alliance, across the ocean, from the US to Europe.”
UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said London will send 20,000 troops supported by advanced fighter jets, surveillance planes, warships and submarines, with many of them being deployed to Eastern Europe from February to June.
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