NATO Sends Russia ‘Clear Message’ Its Troops Are Ready to React

[Purveyor]

NATO said it’s sending a “clear message” to Russia by stepping up defensive forces in eastern Europe, as it tries to allay fears in former Soviet-bloc nations that they’re vulnerable to attack.

A multinational group of 4,000 troops will be deployed in Poland and the three Baltic nations, all of which border Russia, following an agreement by North Atlantic Treaty Organization defense ministers at a meeting in Brussels on Tuesday. The decision is designed to provide reassurance to eastern European governments on top of a rapid-response force that NATO set up last year.

“This is not that NATO wants to fight a war or that we want to provoke a conflict but that we know that strong deterrence is the best way to prevent a war,” Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters at the conclusion of the meeting’s first day. “This decision sends a clear message: if any of our allies is attacked, the whole alliance will respond as one.”

Russia’s 2014 takeover of Crimea and proxy war in eastern Ukraine near NATO territory led the U.S. to rotate troops into eastern Europe and prompted the alliance to set up a 5,000-man rapid-response force that can mobilize within days. Leaders from NATO countries will continue discussing how best to deal with Russian aggression at a summit in Warsaw next month.

more...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-14/nato-sends-russia-clear-message-its-troops-are-ready-to-react

[Agnosticsherbet]

1. If things go bad, 4000 troops are a road bump.

If this is the next phase of Putin's Russian reunification, a lot of people will die.

[bemildred]

3. I think this is window dressing, we are getting ready to work things out over Ukraine.

Because Syria among other things. I'm not sure what that looks like yet, but the signs are there.

[geek tragedy]

4. much like life preservers are displayed to reassure passengers nt

[bemildred]

5. Yeah, pretty much. nt

[bemildred]

7. The thing is Nuland was there last month to coordinate things with Russia over Ukraine.

Because we are not party to the Normandy Process, and are out of the loop, and so we wanted to remedy that. And at the time she was saying we want Ukraine settled as soon as possible, and accordiing to Minsk, nothing less. And so in that context it makes sense to be reassuring our allies and also to get Putin to not get cute with them.

And Syria is coming to the point where if the "great powers" want to force a settlement, they will have to collaborate to make the local despots eat their peas, Turkey, Iran, the Sauds, Assad, and BIbi, at the least. And I think everybody wants it settled because of the refugees, which are destabilizing the EU among other things. Which, incidentally is not really great for Russia either, the EU falling apart.

[newthinking]

8. Nuland is a Neocon. It is hard to believe that she would not have a hidden agenda.

She was also in the middle of what started everything off in Ukraine. She would have to be getting very heavy pressure to sideline her political aims.

[bemildred]

9. Right, that's why she gets to clean up the mess. nt

[bemildred]

10. I don't usually post from Sputnik here, but:

Nuland's Call Discussing Preference for Ukraine PM ‘Mistake’ – Ex-US Envoy

http://sputniknews.com/politics/20160614/1041327356/nuland-yatsenyuk-mistake.html

Donbass Elections Remain Problematic in Nuland's Moscow Talks

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/donbass-elections-remain-problematic-in-nulands-moscow-talks/569791.html

Nuland Voices 'Interesting Ideas' on Minsk Deal Implementation

http://sputniknews.com/politics/20160519/1039869941/nuland-moscow-visit-minsk.html

President Erdoğan’s words could ease Turkey-Russia strain, says deputy PM Kurtulmuş

http://www.dailysabah.com/diplomacy/2016/06/15/president-erdogans-words-could-ease-turkey-russia-strain-says-deputy-pm-kurtulmus

U.S. Ex-Ambassadors Spar Over Russia, NATO, And Ukraine

http://www.rferl.org/content/us-former-ambassadors-spar-over-russia-nato-ukraine-washington-hearing/27798287.html

[bemildred]

11. Russian-Iranian alliance in Syria at crossroads

http://www.democraticunderground.com/113317681

[bemildred]

12. After U.S. Arrival, Saudi Prince Remains Off White House Schedule

http://www.democraticunderground.com/113317679

[bemildred]

13. EU Envoy to Turkey Resigns After Less Than a Year

http://www.democraticunderground.com/113317668

[bemildred]

15. White House Opposes Proposal to Increase Military Aid for Israel

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141489605

[bemildred]

25. During rare visit, EU official says bloc must engage Russia

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) -- The European Union needs to engage with Russia despite the economic sanctions it has imposed on the country for annexing the Crimean peninsula two years ago, a top EU official said Thursday during a rare visit.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the EU's executive Commission, is the highest ranking EU official to visit Russia after the country grabbed control of Crimea in 2014, trigging U.S. and EU sanctions against Russia.

After a two-year break which felt more like a boycott, European leaders and chief executives of top multinational companies are back at Russia's top economic gathering in St. Petersburg in a sign of weariness over the sanctions.

Juncker lashed out at his critics in Europe who argued that his visit to Russia could signal that the EU was ready to compromise on sanctions while Russia is still not willing to help advance the peace process in Ukraine.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_RUSSIA_ECONOMY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-06-16-06-11-47

[bemildred]

28. Juncker to Discuss EU Sanctions on Russia Over Ukraine With Putin

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia—European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said he would discuss European sanctions on Russia Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, following an appearance at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

“I will discuss the matter with President Putin,” Mr. Juncker said, in response to a question on the impact of sanctions, adding: “As far as I can see, he is not in the room.”

The U.S. and Europe imposed sanctions on Russia following the conflict in Ukraine and Moscow’s annexation of the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea. Mr. Juncker’s visit to the forum marks the highest-level trip to Russia by a top EU official in Brussels since the beginning of the crisis.

The conflict in Ukraine put EU-Russian relations “to a severe test,” Mr. Juncker said in remarks at the forum. “Even before these dramatic events, our ties were strained.”

http://www.wsj.com/articles/juncker-to-discuss-eu-sanctions-on-russia-over-ukraine-with-putin-1466075859

[bemildred]

26. Federal plan for northern Syria advances with U.S.-backed forces

As an alliance of U.S.-backed militias advance against Islamic State in northern Syria, their political allies are making progress of their own toward a new federal system of government which they hope will take root in newly captured areas.

The autonomous federation being planned by Syrian Kurdish parties and their allies is taking shape fast: a constitution should be finalised in three months, and possibly sooner, to be followed quickly by elections, a Kurdish official said.

While Kurdish groups insist this is no separatist bid, it is set to redraw the map as U.N. diplomacy fails to make any progress toward ending the war that has splintered Syria into a patchwork of separately-run areas.

In so doing, it is likely to deepen the concerns of NATO member Turkey about growing Kurdish influence in northern Syria, a region whose once unfamiliar Kurdish name - Rojava - has now entered the Middle East's political lexicon.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-federalism-idUSKCN0Z21FN

[bemildred]

27. Syria conflict: Russia 'wants long-term Aleppo ceasefire'

Russia has called for a long-term ceasefire in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, hours after declaring a two-day pause in the fighting there.

The Russian defence ministry said the "regime of calm", which went into effect at midnight, was an effort to stabilise the situation in Aleppo.

Hundreds of people have been killed in the divided city in recent months.

Russian air strikes have supported an attempt by Syrian government forces to encircle rebel-held western areas.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-36547460

[leveymg]

2. Trip wires can start wars when anyone steps on them.

Not a really good idea to put NATO forces right up to Russia's borders. Aircraft overfly borders all the time. Practice missiles go off-range. Junior officers can't read maps. Senior officers have their own agendas. Etc., etc., etc.

A well-worn approach is to make conflicts technically more difficult to begin. This doesn't move in that direction.

[dhill926]

6. totally agree...

[Nitram]

16. A failure to erect trip wires can result in much worse. Next step: negotiation.

Let's remember that NATO cannot deploy in countries where they are not invited. Russia clearly has no such qualms...

[leveymg]

17. I guess you'd rather have war than negotiate with Russia. Remember what Churchill once said about

this very subject:

"Better jaw, jaw than boom, boom."

[Nitram]

18. You misread my post, leveymg.

I was suggesting that if a tripwire discourages an invasion, Russia might be willing to negotiate. Negotiation is a good thing.

[leveymg]

19. The risks outweigh the supposed benefits. I don't want to test the expanded risks.

The last time US and Soviet forces came this close to each other was at the Bay of Pigs. We were both lucky. I got to grow up, and want to grow old. HRC, Nuland, the neocons, and the New Cold Warriors seem to push too many limits.

I can live without them.

[Nitram]

20. You are mistaken: the last time US and soviet forces came this close was the Cuban missile crisis.

And that was Russia moving nuclear weapons into Cuba. You would seem to have a very selective, pro-Russian mentality.

[leveymg]

21. You're right. And the Soviet infantry unit on the island almost lobbed a tactical nuke

if the US had been stupid enough to start landing an invasion force. Never again must we come that close.

That is pro-humanity, not pro-Russia. Why is it that once you run out of ideas, the personal attacks begin?

[Nitram]

22. I don't look kindly on lies, particularly those supporting propaganda.

You stated that the Bay of Pigs was the last time US and Russian forces were that close. That was a lie, as I'm sure you know.

[leveymg]

24. They were two closely connected events that I crossed, not lies. You don't know the difference?

Whose propaganda are you referencing? Ours or theirs?

Here's something soothing, let it take you to a more decent, saner world.

Us and Them
And after all we're only ordinary men
Me, and you
God only knows it's not what we would choose to do
Forward he cried from the rear
and the front rank died
And the General sat, as the lines on the map
moved from side to side
Black and Blue
And who knows which is which and who is who
Up and Down
And in the end it's only round and round and round
Haven't you heard it's a battle of words
the poster bearer cried
Listen son, said the man with the gun
There's room for you inside
Down and Out
It can't be helped but there's a lot of it about
With, without
And who'll deny that's what the fightings all about
Get out of the way, it's a busy day
And I've got things on my mind
For want of the price of tea and a slice
The old man died

[KoKo]

33. ...! n/t

[JayhawkSD]

14. Sometimes you poke the bear.

Sometimes the bear eats you.

[Nitram]

23. Sometimes the bear gets its foot stuck in a trap.

Bears are big and strong, but not too bright.

[NormanMills]

29. 4,000 troops against Russia ... LOL

4,000 troops against Russia's Leningrad military district. Is this a joke?

[Agnosticsherbet]

30. No, it is a trip wire.

[Agnosticsherbet]

31. A brigade consists of 1500 to 3500 soldiers.

4000 would be a reinforced brigade.

It would be big enough to be a deterrent without being so huge as to be considered a threat of invasion.

A division of 25,000 or more troops would be a provocation.

[Nitram]

32. Exactly, Sherbert.

Leveymg accuses the US of provoking war and NormanMills thinks the "tripwire" is not strong enough. They are both wrong because they fail to understand the role of the NATO troops in countries threatened by Russia's imperial ambitions.