U.S. plan to send more troops in eastern Europe to bolster military support for NATO members 0406142

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Defence & Security News - United States
 
 
Wednesday, June 4, 2014 10:03 AM
 
U.S. plan to send more troops in eastern Europe to bolster military support for NATO members.
The President of United States, Barack Obama plans to send more troops and equipment to bolster military support for NATO members in eastern Europe as tensions in the region simmer following Russia's actions in Ukraine. The U.S. President has called on lawmakers in Washington to back the $1billion plan to support and train the armed forces of NATO states on Russia's borders.
     

In a warning to Moscow, Obama said the U.S. has contingency plans to protect every member of NATO, and has been steadily developing those plans in recent years.
     

'Today, I'm announcing a new initiative to bolster the support of our Nato allies here in Europe,' Obama said at Warsaw's Belweder Palace. 'Under this effort, and with the support of Congress, the United States will preposition more equipment in Europe.'

The 'European Reassurance Initiative' - a historic plan that must be approved by Congress - would build the capacity of non-Nato states such as Ukraine and Georgia to work with the United States and the Western alliance and build their own defences.

Obama's first pivotal encounter will come Wednesday when he meets Ukraine's president-elect Petro Poroshenko, with his country threatened by civil war and its new pro-Western leadership grasping for protection from Washington.

The U.S. and Europe have already levied sanctions against Russian officials, but are holding off on further sanctions amid Putin's vow to respect the results of Ukraine's recent presidential election.

Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen hailed Obama's announcement of a bolstered U.S. presence on the continent.

'The United States has reacted swiftly after Russia's illegal military actions in Ukraine,' Rasmussen said as he met with NATO defense ministers in Brussels. 'And I appreciate that other allies have followed so that we can announce that all 28 allies are now contributing to reassurance measures.'