The Russian Navy began military exercises on January 24 in the Baltic Sea amid Western concerns about a possible invasion of Ukraine. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has announced it is strengthening its military presence in Eastern Europe, and alarm is mounting with reports that the United States may send additional troops to the region.
The new military movements in the Baltic Sea and Eastern Europe reach the point of highest tension between Russia and the West in recent times.
Ships of the Russian Navy departed for the coast located to the north of the Old Continent to undertake anti-submarine and anti-aircraft defense maneuvers. To do this, the ships are divided into several tactical groups, state Russian news agencies indicate.
“Twenty warships, launches and support vessels of the Baltic Fleet set sail from their permanent bases and entered the designated areas of the Baltic Sea to perform various tasks as part of the training,” Interfax noted.
The Baltic borders Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany and Denmark.
These operations coincide with the Kremlin’s military deployment along its borders in northeastern, eastern and southern Ukraine, which in the past year has been exponential. Washington and Brussels have described it as “worrying” Moscow’s intentions to invade its neighboring country and former ally in the former Soviet Union.
Despite these actions, the Russian authorities reject the accusations of a probable invasion and point to the West as responsible for increasing tensions.
However, Moscow has warned that it “would respond appropriately” if the US increases the number of troops in Eastern Europe, after the ‘New York Times’ reported that the White House is considering sending 5,000 troops to the Baltic Sea and Eastern Europe.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, called for unity from the European Union to protect his country from Moscow.
NATO and US military moves
The North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO) with troops from 29 countries, including the United States and the European Union, strengthens its positions in Eastern Europe.
This was confirmed this Monday, January 24, by the general secretary of the military organization, Jens Stoltenberg, who assured that the organization has placed its forces on alert and reinforced its presence in the area with more ships and combat aircraft.
NATO “will continue to take all necessary measures to protect and defend all allies, including strengthening the eastern part of the alliance,” Stoltenberg said.
These recent steps are a further sign that the West is preparing for an eventual Russian attack on Ukrainian soil. In the border areas, Vladimir Putin’s forces have deployed more than 100,000 troops, according to Kiev estimates.
But Moscow now cites the Western response as evidence to support its narrative that Russia is the target, not the instigator, of aggression. Likewise, it accuses the United Kingdom, the United States and the member countries of the EU of “hysteria” and of publishing information “mixed with lies”.
“In terms of specific actions, we see statements from the North Atlantic Alliance about reinforcements, pull forces and resources to the eastern flank. All this leads to the fact that tensions are rising (…) This is not happening because of what we Russia, we are doing. All this is happening because of what NATO and the United States are doing and because of the information they are spreading,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
But Brussels has not been deterred by Russian rhetoric, and in recent hours the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, said the 27-nation bloc is prepared to defend itself, including possible Russian cyberattacks.
“We will be ready to respond. We also seek to help Ukraine with cyber and hybrid threats,” he said after concluding a meeting with EU foreign ministers.
Also, the European Commission announced that it will allocate 1,200 million euros to Kiev to help the nation meet the needs arising from the conflict with Russia.
Ukraine “is a sovereign country that makes its own decisions” and Brussels supports it, emphasized Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen.
The main demands at the heart of the conflict
Russia’s military presence on the borders with Ukraine has been increasing since 2014, when the then-Ukrainian province of Crimea was annexed in the so-called Donbass conflict, in which at least 14,000 people have died, according to authorities. ukrainian
And Moscow’s fury has exploded again in the last year at Ukraine’s rapprochement with the West, specifically for its intentions to join both the European Union and NATO, the latter a red line for the Kremlin that considers it a risk. for your security.
Russia has used its troop buildup to draw the West into discussions after putting forward demands to redraw Europe’s security map.
Vladimir Putin demands that the military alliance never admit Ukraine and withdraw troops and weapons from the former communist Eastern European countries that joined NATO after the Cold War: Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. .
These demands are included in the list of demands that Moscow delivered to NATO on December 17, so the Joe Biden government assured that they are “unacceptable” requests.
However, now with Moscow pressing ahead with military warnings, the US has signaled that it is ready to discuss other ideas on arms control, missile deployment and related confidence-building measures between the parties.
The United Kingdom assures that according to its intelligence work, a Russian invasion would be “imminent”, but that “common sense can still prevail”.
The Putin Administration is awaiting a written response from the United States this week on its demands, following talks on January 21 between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov.
With Reuters, AP, EFE and local media
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