© U.S. Military
U.S. paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade arrive at Lviv International Airport in Lviv, Ukraine, on April 11, 2015, in support of the "Fearless Guardian" program to train Ukrainian national guard troops.
Russia is threatening to increase its
military presence on its "western flank" if the United States pushes through with plans to place
troops and heavy weapons in Eastern Europe, claimed a senior Russian defense ministry official on Monday. The potential action by both Washington and Moscow symbolizes a shift back to the military posture of the Cold War, when the two blocs faced each other with vast numbers of soldiers and weaponry in Europe.
"Russia would be left with no other option but to boost its troops and forces on the western flank," said Gen. Yuri Yakubov, who said that
the U.S. plans represented the most aggressive step by NATO and Washington since the end of the Cold War in 1991, when the USSR dissolved.
While U.S. plans for such a move have not been fully detailed by the Pentagon yet, analysts say that
Poland and Lithuania, NATO members that both share a border with the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, would be the likely location of bases to host the troops and weapons. Ukraine, locked in a 15-month conflict with pro-Russian separatists that has caused an escalation of tensions between Russia and the U.S.-led alliance, would not host any of the new bases as it is not a NATO member.
Comment: Meanwhile, Belarus has begun
military drills on its border with Ukraine -- part of a plan to build up the military "in such a way that no one would even think of giving us a sidelong glance," President Lukashenko said -- as well as a
joint anti-terrorism drill with China's PLA Air Force, the first such drill since 2012. Belarus is a dialogue partner in the
SCO, the China-Russia-led security bloc.
Comment: It won't be long before the US dollar will only be worth a wooden nickel.