Kremlin: Moscow ‘forced to respond’ to UK troop deployment to Baltics
Dmitry Peskov, Russian government spokesman, said that United Kingdom’s plan to deploy a small military contingent to Baltic states is part of NATO’s objective to bring its infrastructure closer to Russian borders and Moscow is forced to respond.
“All these plans to bring NATO military infrastructure closer to Russian borders will ultimately result in steps by us that aim to restore the balance of power,” Peskov said, according to Russian news agency Interfax.
Peskov said that a threat originating from Russia is a “tale of fiction” in order to justify NATO’s continuing expansion near Russia’s borders.
The UK’s Ministy of Defense confirmed on Thursday that about 100 British military personnel will be sent to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. A further 25 will be involved in a continuing training mission in Ukraine.
British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said that the deployment was meant to offer further security reassurance for Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. According to Fallon, “the UK is committed to support the sovereignty of the democratic nations of Eastern Europe.”
The UK’s Royal Air Force has previously provided jets for the Baltic Air Policing mission in the absence of local air defense capability. Four RAF Typhoons were deployed to Ämari Air Base, Estonia, at the beginning of this year.
Editor: S. Tambur