Nato ups ante against Russia
Nato leaders yesterday united behind a policy of deterrence and dialogue with Russia after launching the alliance's biggest military revamp since the end of the Cold War to counter a resurgent Moscow.
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a summit in Warsaw that they "stand together" on Russia, with Nato's eastern flank still nervous after Moscow's shock annexation of Crimea and the Ukraine conflict.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has opposed Nato's decision to put four battalions in Poland and the Baltic states, seeing the expansion into Moscow's Soviet-era backyard as a security threat.
Meanwhile, former Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev has accused Nato of preparing for "offensive operations" against Russia.
Gorbachev criticised Nato's decision to deploy 4,000 more international troops in Eastern Europe.
Gorbachev, the eighth and last leader of the Soviet Union, said: "Nato has begun preparations for escalating from the Cold War into a hot one.
"All the rhetoric in Warsaw just yells of a desire almost to declare war on Russia. They only talk about defence, but actually they are preparing for offensive operations."
However, Nato's Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the organisation's decision to triple its military presence in Eastern Europe was a purely defensive move.
Moscow bitterly opposes Nato's expansion into its Soviet-era satellites, seeing it as part of an attempt by the West to surround it.
Prior to the Nato summit, Russia assembled troops, trucks and equipment at its Baltic bases, highlighting its military readiness. Russia is even more critical of the Ballistic Missile Defence system the United States is building to counter missile threats from Iran or the Middle East, which Nato declared initially operational on Friday, saying it undercuts its nuclear deterrent.
But French President Francois Hollande has appeared to offer more of an olive branch to Moscow, saying on Friday Russia was neither adversary or threat but a partner.
The United States and European Union have both imposed sanctions on Moscow over the Ukraine crisis but in Europe in particular there are growing calls for them to be scaled back.
Nato leaders meanwhile confirmed pledges to fund Afghanistan security forces through 2020, to combat Taliban rebels who are putting the Kabul government under intense pressure. Stoltenberg said Nato will keep troops in Afghanistan through 2017 under its train and advise Resolute Support Mission but could not say when the alliance's longest military engagement might end.
US President Barack Obama was forced this week to slow the US pullout due to the "precarious" security situation. Some 8,400 US troops will now remain in the war-ravaged country into next year, not 5,500 as planned.
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