NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, in an interview with The Telegraph, said that against the background of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, the alliance is developing plans for a full-scale deployment of permanent military forces on the eastern flank in order to counter "Russian aggression" in the future.

According to him, the North Atlantic Alliance "is in the process of a fundamental transformation" that will reflect the "long-term consequences" of Moscow's actions.

“What we are now witnessing is a new reality, a new norm for European security.

In view of this, we asked our military leaders to present options for the so-called reset, long-term adaptation of NATO.

I expect that the leadership of the alliance will make decisions on this issue as part of the upcoming June meeting at the NATO summit in Madrid," Stoltenberg said.

Reporting on the plans to “reset” the North Atlantic bloc, he noted that at present, 40,000 military personnel are already under the direct command of the alliance in the eastern part of NATO – almost ten times more than before the start of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine.

According to The Telegraph, as part of a massive “reset”, the relatively small presence of “cover forces” on the eastern flank of the alliance will be replaced with forces “enough to repel an attempted invasion” of NATO countries bordering Russia.

“In the event of an attack on countries such as Latvia and Estonia, which have a common border with Russia, reinforcements would be called in from all countries of the alliance.

But now NATO intends to ensure such a large-scale permanent presence on its eastern flank, which in itself would protect the alliance from a Russian attack, ”the newspaper notes.

The Telegraph journalists also recalled that last month the UK announced plans to double the number of its troops in Eastern Europe and send a new contingent to Bulgaria, after "NATO leadership agreed to continue strengthening the eastern flank of the alliance against Russian aggression."

“But Stoltenberg’s statement indicates that the alliance is preparing to go (in this matter.

- RT

) even further,” the journalists say.

Earlier, on March 24, the heads of state and government of NATO issued a joint statement of unity in their determination to resist "Russia's attempts to destroy the foundations of international security and stability", as well as their intention to exert "coordinated international pressure" on the Russian Federation.

“In response to Russian actions, we have activated NATO defense plans, deployed elements of the NATO Response Force and deployed a contingent of 40,000 troops on our eastern flank, along with significant air and naval forces and assets under direct NATO command with the support national deployments of NATO members.

We are also establishing four additional multinational battlegroups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia,” the statement said.

  • NATO Heads of State and Government Summit 24 March

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  • © Thomas COEX

In addition, the heads of state and government of the North Atlantic Alliance announced their intention to "develop the full range of combat-ready forces and capabilities necessary to ensure credible deterrence and defence."

Aggressive intentions

It is worth noting that NATO has repeatedly announced plans to strengthen its eastern flank, and even before the start of Russia's special operation in Ukraine.

So, on January 24, a press release was published on the alliance's website, which stated that the countries of the bloc were putting their forces on alert and sending additional ships and fighters "for NATO deployments in Eastern Europe, strengthening the Alliance's deterrence and defense."

However, Moscow drew attention to the fact that NATO began to strengthen the eastern flank even before the announcement of its decision.

This was announced on March 25 to journalists by the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov.

“Even before the decision was made to strengthen the eastern flank of NATO, de facto this strengthening was already carried out, a fairly powerful fist was formed there, a powerful military infrastructure, NATO’s defense infrastructure,” Peskov said.

Later, on April 1, on the air of the Belarus 1 TV channel, the press secretary of the Russian president said that in response to the strengthening of NATO positions near the Russian borders, the Russian Defense Ministry is working on a plan to increase and strengthen military potential on the country's western borders.

“Of course, this will be done in such a way as to protect us and to maintain the necessary parity in everything - so that it would not occur to anyone, in Russian speaking, to attack us,” Peskov stressed.

"Intensity of Tension"

NATO continues to actively strengthen its eastern flank, and now Stoltenberg is talking about another significant strengthening of the bloc's positions, Konstantin Blokhin, a leading researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said in a comment to RT.

“And it will be easier for the alliance to implement these plans against the backdrop of anti-Russian hysteria in the West.

As before, such measures are openly anti-Russian in nature.

Before the Russian special operation in Ukraine, NATO also strengthened its presence in Eastern Europe, but tried not to advertise it too much, ”the expert recalled.

  • US military in Poland

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  • © Brendan SMIALOWSKI

Now, such intentions are openly spoken about in the bloc, hiding behind the notorious “Russian threat”, which has become a key element thanks to which NATO still exists, Blokhin is sure.

“The expediency of having this alliance is now more actively justified by the “Russian threat” and the very existence of the Russian Federation.

The bloc's main goal is to contain Russia.

Now NATO wants to strengthen its position at the Russian borders and further increase the degree of tension in this region, ”the analyst stated.

At the same time, Blokhin recalled that Russia had repeatedly tried to negotiate with the United States and NATO on mutual security guarantees in Europe and on the refusal to further expand the North Atlantic Alliance to the east.

“Moscow has made every effort to achieve this, has repeatedly called on the United States and NATO to sit down at the negotiating table and agree within the framework of a dialogue on security issues.

However, the alliance refused to develop this theme.

Instead of concrete decisions for the benefit of international stability, there were talks in the bloc that this was supposedly a defensive alliance.

But in the end, we see how the alliance is increasing its presence on the eastern flag and plans to continue doing this, but now we are talking about a permanent contingent, ”the expert said.

According to Blokhin, all this will only aggravate the situation in the field of global security, and may also provoke the Russian Federation to take retaliatory steps.

“In this context, Russia's intentions to continue seeking security guarantees from the US and NATO are extremely relevant.

If the parties negotiate on this track, it will help reduce the intensity of tension that NATO is so carefully cultivating.

Dialogue in such a situation is simply necessary to maintain stability throughout the world, ”the analyst believes.

In turn, Alexei Podberezkin, director of the MGIMO Center for Military-Political Studies, recalled that it was NATO’s actions to build up its military infrastructure and presence at the Russian borders that served as the main reason why the Russian Federation made a number of proposals to the United States and the alliance on guarantees and security measures. security.

“The bloc has been pursuing a strategy to move east for many years.

Moscow has repeatedly stressed that it is extremely concerned about this development of events.

But now the alliance wants to deploy its forces in the region on a permanent basis, which would allow it to conduct offensive operations.

This is a long-term strategy, which is now absolutely clear and has been confirmed in the words of Stoltenberg, ”the expert said in a comment to RT.

  • NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

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  • © Andreas Gora

Podberezkin believes that the development of NATO plans for the full-scale deployment of permanent military forces on the eastern flank indicates the preparation of the alliance "for a possible conflict with the Russian Federation in the European theater of operations."

“It is no coincidence that the bloc is increasing its military activity near the Russian borders.

This trend was observed before, but now it is taking on more and more vivid forms, having developed under the pretext of an imaginary “threat” from Russia.

But the Russian Defense Ministry assesses the risks and is ready for possible provocations from NATO,” the analyst said.