NATO asks Russia to keep calm about Alliance's military exercises
Russia was asked not to be wary of the NATO exercises in Norway, which will be held this fall, stated the representative of Norwegian armed forces, Lieutenant General Rune Jakobsen, RIA Novosti reported.
He said that the Trident Juncture 2018 exercises will be held far enough from the Russian border.
“The central area of exercises will be located at a distance of more than one thousand kilometers from the Russian border. Air operations can take place at a distance of 500 km from the border, so Russians have no reason to be wary of these defensive exercises,” he said.
James Foggo, the head of the joint command of the Alliance’s forces in Naples, Admiral of US Armed Forces, noted that the exercises are meant to demonstrate that the armed forces can “defend and deter any enemy, and not some particular one.” He had earlier said that the US aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman would take part in the Trident Juncture exercises.
Earlier, the head of the European command of US Armed forces General Curtis Scaparotti said that the aim of exercises was to demonstrate the capabilities of the Alliance to deter Russia.
The NATO’s strategic exercises Trident Juncture 2018 (the Single Trident NATO 2018) will be held in the country in October-November this year. More than 40 thousand soldiers from 31 countries, as states that are members of the Alliance, as well as their partners like Sweden and Finland will take part in the military exercises. These are the largest maneuvers on NATO’s northern flank after the end of the Cold War.