From the Baltic to the Black Sea: why the US and NATO have promised to increase their military presence near the borders of the Russian Federation

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told reporters that NATO will increase its presence in the east - from the Black Sea to the Baltic.

“We will strengthen the presence of NATO from the Black Sea to the Baltic.

And as part of these efforts, we are constantly working with each other, as well as with NATO, ”TASS quotes Blinken from a press conference in Bucharest, where a meeting of the foreign ministers of the member countries of the military bloc is taking place.

Earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg made a similar statement in Bucharest on November 28 during a press conference with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.

“In response to Russian aggression, NATO is strengthening its presence (on the territory. -

) from the Baltic Sea to the Black.

We have created new battle groups, including a French-led group here in Romania,” Stoltenberg said.

The Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance also said that following the results of the summit in Madrid, held at the end of June, an agreement was reached on inviting Finland and Sweden to become members of the military bloc.

To date, 28 out of 30 NATO countries have ratified the accession protocols for these states.

Stoltenberg expressed confidence that all allies would ratify the documents on joining the alliance of Helsinki and Stockholm.

The NATO Secretary General is convinced that the entry of the Scandinavian states "will strengthen NATO, because Finland and Sweden have well-trained and well-equipped high-tech armed forces."

Recall that at present the main obstacle to the admission of Helsinki and Stockholm into the alliance is the position of Turkey and Hungary.

Budapest is expected to ratify the protocol.

At the same time, Ankara is in no hurry to approve the membership of Finland and Sweden due to serious political differences.

In particular, Turkey is unhappy with the fact that Helsinki and Stockholm have imposed restrictions on the export of weapons and do not support the fight against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the organization of the Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen (FETO).

Ankara considers these formations to be terrorist.

"Step Up Efforts"

In an interview with RT, RISI expert Sergei Ermakov suggested that the Scandinavian countries might enter NATO out of sync.

According to the analyst, as the conflicts with Turkey are resolved, Finland, which has a long border with Russia, will first become a member of the bloc.

“The issue with Sweden has not yet been resolved, but the previously neutral Finland actually received the green light for full integration into the alliance,” Yermakov said. 

• US Marines on exercises in Finland

• © US Department of Defense

According to the expert, Finland's entry will inevitably lead to the expansion of NATO's military infrastructure in the Baltic.

In the country, most likely, large-scale exercises of the forces of the North Atlantic Alliance will be held and objects of permanent deployment of foreign troops will appear, the analyst argues.

In addition, as Yermakov recalled, “NATOs have a long-standing interest in the Black Sea: they are worried about the presence of Russia in this region, and they are trying to counteract it in this region.”

The specialist believes that the alliance is hatching plans to realize this goal "with the help of military force." 

In a RT commentary, Alexander Mikhailov, head of the Bureau of Military-Political Analysis, said that in the short term, a significant increase in the alliance's capabilities in the southern direction and on the "northern flank" should not be expected.

As the analyst explained, NATO's aggressive initiatives in the Black Sea are not allowed to be implemented by the current policy of Turkey, which complies with the Montreux Convention, and "Ankara still continues to bargain" on the membership of the Scandinavian countries.

At the same time, according to the expert, Russia has the resources to take additional security measures in order to counter the aggressive actions of the alliance both in the Baltic and in the Black Sea. 

In his speeches in Bucharest, Stoltenberg said that the alliance needs "the most serious strengthening of collective defense" with an emphasis on the eastern direction, meaning Poland and the Baltic states.

According to the NATO Secretary General, at the moment the number of operational battle groups in the region has been doubled.

According to Stoltenberg, the bloc is now looking for an opportunity to increase the number of these units or transform the battalions that are in constant readiness into brigades, that is, into significantly larger army formations.

“You (NATO countries. -

) will have more specially assigned troops in order to be able to increase efforts.

And in general, we will have a larger reserve of high-readiness forces that we can use to quickly increase the number of troops, as well as a large number of pieces of pre-deployed equipment, ”Stoltenberg promised.

The Russian Defense Ministry also recorded an increase in the number of NATO battalion tactical groups near Russian borders since February this year.

• NATO Exercise Steadfast Noon

• AFP

• © Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD

“In Eastern and Central Europe, as well as in the Baltic countries, the formations of the armed forces of non-regional NATO states are deployed.

New multinational battalion tactical groups are being created in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia.

Since February 2022, the number of the group has increased by 2.5 times and amounts to more than 30 thousand people, and in the near future it may increase even more, ”Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on November 2 at a meeting of the joint board of the defense departments of Russia and Belarus.

Recall that following the results of the Madrid summit, the number of advanced groups and NATO rapid reaction forces in the eastern direction should be increased to 300 thousand people.

“In my opinion, such injection is beneficial primarily to the United States.

It will allow them to draw their European partners even deeper into the confrontation with Moscow.

Washington is using a new phase of the Ukrainian crisis for this,” Mikhailov stressed.

No dialogue

NATO does not hide the fact that the build-up of the military capabilities of the alliance began before the special operation.

“We acted for a long time and even stepped up our efforts a few weeks before the invasion” (meaning the start of a special operation. -

),” Stoltenberg said on November 29 at the Aspen-GMF forum in Bucharest.

Mikhailov recalled that since 2014, the countries of the alliance have justified their numerous anti-Russian decisions, as well as military support for Ukraine, by the “occupation” of Crimea and the “invasion” of the Russian army into the Donbass.

At the same time, as the expert noted, NATO deliberately ignored the fact of the coup d'état in Kyiv, as a result of which pro-Western Russophobic forces came to power illegally.

As Sergei Yermakov emphasized, NATO's provocative, aggressive activities did not end with the end of the Cold War and retained a threatening character for Russia.

“Moscow has always stood for an equal dialogue, for a civilized and respectful discussion of all pressing problems.

These principles were laid down in the Russia-NATO Founding Act signed in 1997.

But by and large, it has never been carried out, primarily in terms of an equal dialogue,” Yermakov explained.

NATO adheres to a different point of view, accusing Moscow of unwillingness to conduct a "constructive dialogue."

Speaking in Bucharest, Stoltenberg said that "for many years we have sought to establish a more constructive relationship with Russia."

“Russia has left this dialogue.

Given the behavior of Russia and its aggressive actions against Ukraine, which are currently observed, there is no way to continue the meaningful dialogue that we have been trying to establish for many years, ”complained the Secretary General of the alliance.

• NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

• AP

• © Andrea Alexandru

Experts believe that Moscow, on the contrary, has made every possible diplomatic effort to find compromise solutions to NATO's eastward expansion, the Ukrainian crisis and other problems.

The last attempt at the moment to negotiate with the West was made at the end of last year, when the Russian Federation presented its proposals for security guarantees.

In particular, the draft treaty with the United States published by the Russian Foreign Ministry provided for interaction based on the principles of "indivisible and equal security, not harming each other's security."

Negotiations were held between the parties, but the alliance did not cancel the so-called "open door policy".

According to Yermakov, it was the behavior of the United States and its allies that led to a new phase of the Ukrainian crisis and a serious destabilization of the security situation in Europe.

“In the West, in fact, they ignored Moscow's proposals and fears in connection with the militarization of Ukraine.

The result of such a NATO-centric policy is before our eyes.

Despite this, the alliance continues to believe that Russia can be excluded from the European security system and not speak with it on an equal footing," Yermakov concluded.