General Pavel: NATO increases number of troops in Baltic States due to Russia's military buildup in the region
NATO has expanded its military presence in the Baltic countries in connection with the buildup of the Russian Federation’s military potential, said the head of the Military Committee of the North Atlantic Alliance, the Czech general Petr Pavel. This was reported by Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, the buildup and modernization of Russian military potential has led to increased anxiety and fear among the population in the Baltic countries.
“That’s why NATO has provided an expanded presence with rotational combat groups to demonstrate NATO’s determination to act if necessary,” the Pentagon press service quoted the general as saying.
He said that the alliance “will try to maintain the level of military presence below the point at which it would threaten Russia.”
“We did not want to create any rivalry that will attract more forces to the region,” noted Pavel.
“We wanted to demonstrate at a very proportionate level that the majority of NATO allies are involved, and the commitment to Article 5 is solid,” he added.
Article 5 of the NATO Charter contains the principle of collective defense, according to which an attack on one ally is perceived as an attack on all allies.
Earlier, Putin said that the new Russian weapon makes the expansion of NATO meaningless.