As NATO strengthens its eastern flank in a new Iron Curtain to safeguard the continent from Russia, Joe Biden revealed today that America will send thousands more troops, jets, air defenses, and ships to Europe.
Joe Biden announced the establishment of a new base for the US Fifth Army Corps in Poland, the first permanent American base in the nation, along with the dispatch of an additional 3,000 troops to Romania and “enhanced” troop rotations for the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania during his speech at the NATO summit in Madrid today.
According to Biden, there will be a total of six F-35 fighter squadrons sent to the UK, as well as new air defense systems for Germany and Italy and two more warships stationed at Rota Naval Station in Spain.
It happened at the same time that NATO, after Turkey dropped its opposition, officially asked Finland and Sweden to join the alliance and said it would increase force levels on its eastern flank by approximately 4,000 over March of this year.
The alliance’s leader, Jens Stoltenberg, revealed yesterday that NATO’s high-alert force, which consists of troops who are not currently deployed but can be quickly dispatched into battle in the event of war, will also be boosted from 40,000 to 300,000.
The revelation that Finland and Sweden are one step closer to joining, violating long-standing neutrality accords with Russia, infuriated Moscow, which claimed it would be “destabilizing” for Europe.
“We view the North Atlantic alliance’s growth as a totally destabilizing factor in world events.” Neither those who are growing the alliance, those who are joining it, nor other nations that view the alliance as a threat are made to feel any safer, according to deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov.
After the Second World War, Stalin constructed the first “Iron Curtain” to isolate the Soviet Union from the West. The West is currently attempting to defend itself against Putin’s saber-rattling toward the former Soviet states.
At a summit taking place today in Madrid, Biden declared, “Together with our friends we’re going to make sure that NATO is ready to handle the threats from all directions across every domain.”
“The United States and its friends, we’re going to stand up in a moment where (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has broken peace in Europe and assaulted the very, basic tenets of rule-based order,” he added.
“We’re stepping up, demonstrating that NATO is more essential than ever.”
The aggression of Russia toward Ukraine, according to Stoltenberg, has presented the alliance with its greatest challenge since World War II. He therefore welcomed Biden’s announcement.
Thanking Biden for the “unwavering support from you and from the United States to Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said, “this really illustrates your clear leadership and strength in the trans-Atlantic bond.”
The establishment of a new permanent military installation on Polish soil was hailed by Jakub Kumoch, Andrzej Duda’s foreign policy advisor, who said it sends “a strong signal to Moscow” that NATO will defend its members.
It is a victory that results from extensive and persistent negotiations on this issue and, at the same time, a very obvious indication that the Americans aim to expand, not reduce, their presence in Poland, according to Kumoch.
Marcin Przydacz, deputy foreign minister, continued, “Something that seemed unthinkable to many is now becoming an actuality.
The United States is STILL present in Poland. Additionally, it sends Moscow a strong message.
The assurances, however, fell far short of the demands made by some leaders, particularly those of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, who demanded a new garrison of 50,000 NATO soldiers on their soil.
Instead, the number of NATO personnel stationed in the area has been slightly boosted from the 7,700 that were there in March to 9,900.
The number of additional US troops that will be sent as part of the “increased” rotations was not made clear by Biden, but it is likely to be significantly less than what had been requested.
The summit of NATO leaders comes as the organization struggles to respond to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Although Ukraine is not a member of the alliance, it is encircled by allies, and many NATO nations have been providing arms to halt Russian advances.
That has led Russia to warn of a “de-facto” confrontation with NATO, which it claims might escalate into a nuclear Third World War, via its state media propaganda networks.
Poland, which has a lengthy land border with Ukraine, has received reinforcements from NATO and has accelerated purchases of American weapons of the newest generation in recent months in an effort to dissuade Russia from attacking.
The Baltic republics, which have long been seen as NATO’s weak spot, are also stepping up appeals for reinforcements to thwart any attack threat.
According to Estonia’s foreign ministry’s head of NATO relations, Kyllike Sillaste-Elling, “We need a new, more muscular posture that will greatly improve the deterrence and protection of the eastern flank.”
“Putin is unafraid.” We should consider what Putin has said regarding his geopolitical objectives, which include bringing up the former Soviet Union.
As a close neighbor, we cannot simply ignore those claims. We are a tiny nation bordering Russia in the extreme northeast. There is nowhere for us to hide; we have nowhere to go.
We must put as much in place as we can because of this.
Last week, as a result of Lithuania’s decision to block Russia from transporting products across its border in accordance with EU sanctions, concerns over the Suwalki Gap increased.
Between Belarus, a close friend of Russia, and Kaliningrad, an outpost of Russian territory on the Baltic Sea, the Lithuanian route was a crucial supply route.
The Suwalki Gap, which passes through Lithuania and Poland, two NATO members, connects Kaliningrad and Belarus.
They worry that Putin might invade the area quickly, reopen Kaliningrad’s supply routes, cut off the Baltic nations from mainland Europe, and make reinforcement much more difficult.
In order to prevent a Russian invasion, they are pleading with NATO to send in enough troops now rather than waiting until an attack has already begun.
As part of a so-called “tripwire” force, NATO had some 3,700 soldiers stationed in Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia when Russia invaded Ukraine in February of this year.
The aim is to deter any invasion for long enough for much larger forces, like the 300,000 “high alert” troops, to be brought into the fight, even though the force is far too tiny to defeat Russia in a fight.
Baltic leaders worry that if reinforcements don’t come before their countries are subsumed by Russia, the alliance will be forced to choose between trying to free them and accepting the new status quo.
Leaders believe that despite the low likelihood of a Russian strike while war is ongoing in Ukraine, the possibility must be treated seriously.
You can’t rule out the chance that Russia may launch an attack, according to Viktorija Starych-Samuoliene, a Lithuanian specialist and co-founder of the Council on Geostrategy, who spoke to The Times.
“The Suwalki Gap is actually the most straightforward target.” It is NATO’s vulnerable side.
The biggest error a policymaker can make is to simply discount the likelihood that something similar will occur.
With hacker collective Killnet conducting a days-long cyberattack on Lithuania last week that specifically targeted its financial, energy, and communications sectors, Russia has already started to threaten Lithuania.
Although Killnet has no formal affiliation with the Russian government, it is believed that the authorities have given their approval to certain of its actions.
Fake news stories and videos were also widely circulated on Lithuanian social media, giving the impression that the United States was getting ready to remove the nation from NATO’s Article 5 commitment, which would prevent the alliance from defending it in the event of an attack.
Leaders, who started to arrive in Madrid for the summit yesterday, declared last night that the alliance’s main goal is to bolster its defenses against Russia.
Johnson, the representative of Great Britain, said that NATO must reflect on “the lessons of the last few months” and “the necessity for NATO to rethink its posture on its eastern flank” as he arrived for meetings on Wednesday.
The NATO pledge to significantly expand its fast reaction force for nations closest to Russia, according to Polish President Andrzej Duda, will make Europe “safer.”
Russia is a threat to NATO as a whole, he declared, not just to Europe.
President Joe Biden stated this morning that in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States is strengthening its military presence in Europe over the long term.
Meeting with Jens Stoltenberg at the start of the annual leaders summit of the alliance in Madrid, Vice President Biden declared that the alliance is “strong and united” and that the actions that will be taken at the meeting will “further augment our collective strength.”
In order to kick off his participation in the summit, Biden declared that the United States would establish a permanent headquarters in Poland, send two more squadrons of F-35 fighter jets to the United Kingdom, and increase its air defense and other capabilities in Germany and Italy.
He said: “Today I’m announcing the United States will bolster our collective security and respond to the changing threat environment by enhancing our force posture in Europe.”
Stoltenberg applauded Biden’s announcement, saying earlier on Wednesday that the alliance was facing its greatest challenge since World War II.
Thanking Biden for the “unwavering support from you and from the United States to Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said, “This really illustrates your decisive leadership and strength in the trans-Atlantic bond.”
According to Biden, this will improve US-NATO cooperation on the alliance’s eastern flank by permanently stationing the U.S. Army V Corps forward headquarters in Poland.
With this action, American forces will be permanently stationed on the eastern border of NATO. Additionally, the United States is increasing its rotating force deployments to the Baltic region, according to Biden.
Following his arrival for the conference on Tuesday, Biden declared that the United States would station a total of six destroyers at its naval base in Rota, Spain.
More than 100,000 American service men are currently stationed across Europe, an increase of nearly 20,000 since four months ago, just before to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
As leaders prepared to accept a new strategic framework, announce a number of measures to increase their defense expenditures and capabilities, and pave the way for historically neutral Finland and Sweden to join NATO, Biden predicted that this week’s sessions will result in a “history-making summit.”
According to Biden, Putin anticipated that after invading Ukraine, NATO members would split up, but the reverse happened.
Putin sought to “Finlandize” Europe, according to Biden. “You’re going to see Europe become more NATO-centric.” And while it’s exactly what must be done to ensure Europe’s security, he didn’t want it.
When Turkey, which was also worried about a Russian invasion, decided to support Finland and Sweden entering the alliance, summit negotiations got off to a good start.
Because Finland and Sweden support Kurdish “terrorist groups,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had been opposed to the move. However, he backed down last night after weeks of lobbying, claiming he “got what he wanted” from them.
Thus, the swift entry of the two Scandinavian countries into the alliance with their tens of thousands of troops strategically stationed just across the Baltic Sea and their advanced armament is all but guaranteed.
I am happy to announce that we have reached an agreement that will allow Finland and Sweden to become members of NATO,’ Stoltenberg said.
“A memorandum addressing Turkey’s concerns, including around arms exports and the fight against terrorism, has been signed by Turkey, Finland, and Sweden.”