WARSAW: Some 18,000 troops from 19 mostly NATO countries begin annual US-led military exercises in Poland and the Baltic states on Sunday to boost combat readiness on the alliance’s eastern flank as it faces an increasingly assertive Russia.
The eighth Saber Strike maneuvers, which will run until June 15, come after it was revealed Poland is considering a proposal to welcome a permanent deployment of US troops to the country.
A Polish defense ministry “information document” emerged this week showing that Warsaw could spend between $1.5 to $2 billion (1.3 to 1.7 billion euros) to help cover the cost of stationing a US tank unit in Poland.
The proposal triggered immediate criticism from Moscow, with the Kremlin insisting that any such deployment “will not benefit in any way the security and stability on the continent.”
The US has ramped up its presence on NATO’s eastern flank and notably Poland since Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
The US army set up a new European headquarters in Poland in May 2017 to command some 6,000 of its troops deployed in NATO and Pentagon operations in the region.
The move was one of the largest deployments of US forces in Europe since the Cold War and was meant to reassure NATO’s easternmost allies spooked by Russia’s frequent military exercises near their borders and the Crimea annexation.
The US also leads a multi-national NATO battle group in Poland. Germany, Britain and Canada command three others in nearby Baltic states Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, where Saber Strike maneuvers are planned.
Speaking in Warsaw on Monday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he expected leaders at a July NATO summit in Brussels to “make decisions on reinforcement, readiness and military mobility” of forces in Europe, particularly with regard to the four battle groups deployed in 2016.
Further cementing strong defense ties with Washington, Poland signed a $4.75-billion (3.8-billion-euro) contract in March to purchase a US-made Patriot anti-missile system, in its largest-ever weapons deal.
Moscow complained about the prospect of the deployment of Patriot systems in Poland and Romania, which it says violates a 1987 arms treaty and could be tailored to shoot missiles at Russia.
In February, Lithuania accused Russia of permanently deploying nuclear-capable Iskander ballistic missiles to its Kaliningrad exclave.
This year’s Saber Strike maneuvers will be partly held in this sensitive region.
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US Army to launch war games on NATO’s eastern flank
US Army to launch war games on NATO’s eastern flank
Ukraine accuses Hungary, Slovakia of ‘blackmail’ over threats to cut electricity
KYIV: Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry condemned what it described as “ultimatums and blackmail” by the governments of Hungary and Slovakia on Saturday, after they threatened to stop electricity supplies to Ukraine unless Kyiv restarts flows of Russian oil.
Shipments of Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia have been cut off since January 27, when Kyiv says a Russian drone strike hit pipeline equipment in Western Ukraine. Slovakia and Hungary say Ukraine is to blame for the prolonged outage.
Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Saturday that he would cut off emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine within two days unless Kyiv resumes Russian oil transit to Slovakia over Ukraine’s territory. Hungary’s Viktor Orban made a similar threat days earlier.
The issue has become one of the angriest disputes yet between Ukraine and two neighbors that are members of the EU and NATO but whose leaders have bucked the largely pro-Ukrainian consensus in Europe to cultivate warm ties with Moscow.
Slovakia and Hungary are the only two EU countries that still rely on significant amounts of Russian oil shipped via the Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline over Ukraine.
“Ukraine rejects and condemns the ultimatums and blackmail by the governments of Hungary and the Slovak Republic regarding energy supplies between our countries,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “Ultimatums should be sent to the Kremlin, and certainly not to Kyiv.”
HUNGARY, SLOVAKIA ARE KEY FOR UKRAINE’S ELECTRICITY IMPORTS
Between them, Hungary and Slovakia have been providing around half of European emergency electricity exports to Ukraine, which Kyiv increasingly relies on as Russian attacks have damaged its grid.
“If oil supplies to Slovakia are not resumed on Monday, I will ask SEPS, the state-owned joint-stock company, to stop emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine,” Fico said in a post on X.
Kyiv said that such actions were “provocative, irresponsible, and threaten the energy security of the entire region.”
Throughout the war that began with the full-scale Russian invasion whose fourth anniversary falls on Tuesday, Ukraine has allowed its territory to be used for Russian energy exports to Europe, which have been sharply curtailed but not halted.
Ukraine has proposed alternative transit routes to ship oil to Europe while emergency pipeline repair works are under way.
In a letter seen by Reuters, the Ukrainian mission to the EU proposed shipments through Ukraine’s oil transportation system or a maritime route, potentially including the Odesa-Brody pipeline linking Ukraine’s main Black Sea port to the EU.
Since October last year, Russia has intensified its drone and missile attacks on the Ukrainian energy system, knocking out electricity and heat and plunging millions of Ukrainians into long blackouts during bitterly cold winter temperatures.
Shipments of Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia have been cut off since January 27, when Kyiv says a Russian drone strike hit pipeline equipment in Western Ukraine. Slovakia and Hungary say Ukraine is to blame for the prolonged outage.
Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Saturday that he would cut off emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine within two days unless Kyiv resumes Russian oil transit to Slovakia over Ukraine’s territory. Hungary’s Viktor Orban made a similar threat days earlier.
The issue has become one of the angriest disputes yet between Ukraine and two neighbors that are members of the EU and NATO but whose leaders have bucked the largely pro-Ukrainian consensus in Europe to cultivate warm ties with Moscow.
Slovakia and Hungary are the only two EU countries that still rely on significant amounts of Russian oil shipped via the Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline over Ukraine.
“Ukraine rejects and condemns the ultimatums and blackmail by the governments of Hungary and the Slovak Republic regarding energy supplies between our countries,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “Ultimatums should be sent to the Kremlin, and certainly not to Kyiv.”
HUNGARY, SLOVAKIA ARE KEY FOR UKRAINE’S ELECTRICITY IMPORTS
Between them, Hungary and Slovakia have been providing around half of European emergency electricity exports to Ukraine, which Kyiv increasingly relies on as Russian attacks have damaged its grid.
“If oil supplies to Slovakia are not resumed on Monday, I will ask SEPS, the state-owned joint-stock company, to stop emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine,” Fico said in a post on X.
Kyiv said that such actions were “provocative, irresponsible, and threaten the energy security of the entire region.”
Throughout the war that began with the full-scale Russian invasion whose fourth anniversary falls on Tuesday, Ukraine has allowed its territory to be used for Russian energy exports to Europe, which have been sharply curtailed but not halted.
Ukraine has proposed alternative transit routes to ship oil to Europe while emergency pipeline repair works are under way.
In a letter seen by Reuters, the Ukrainian mission to the EU proposed shipments through Ukraine’s oil transportation system or a maritime route, potentially including the Odesa-Brody pipeline linking Ukraine’s main Black Sea port to the EU.
Since October last year, Russia has intensified its drone and missile attacks on the Ukrainian energy system, knocking out electricity and heat and plunging millions of Ukrainians into long blackouts during bitterly cold winter temperatures.
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