NATO will hold the largest military exercises in the Arctic | News from Germany about world events

NATO intends to hold the largest military exercise Cold Response beyond the Arctic Circle in early March. The maneuvers will involve 35,000 troops from 28 countries, as well as the American nuclear aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, the US Permanent Mission to the North Atlantic Alliance said on Wednesday, January 19.

The Norwegian Armed Forces notified the command of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Federation about future maneuvers on January 13. According to the Norwegian side, the exercises will take place in several stages, including on the territory of the kingdom.

Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry pointed to the threat of rising tensions in the Arctic. The scale of the Cold Response exercise will increase “the risks of accidental incidents and unintentional escalation,” Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large Nikolai Korchunov told Interfax.

Deterioration of relations between Russia and the West

In recent months, tensions between Western countries and Russia have increased significantly. Since the beginning of the summer of 2021, the Russian Federation has deployed about 100 thousand military personnel to the annexed Crimea and to the border with Ukraine, explaining that it is conducting military exercises. Western leaders fear that Moscow is preparing for war.

The Kremlin denies plans for a military operation and accuses Western countries of arming Ukraine and conducting maneuvers near the borders of the Russian Federation. In addition, the Russian authorities are demanding “security guarantees,” including NATO’s refusal to expand eastward and admit Ukraine into its membership.

A series of Russian talks with the United States, NATO and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) held in Geneva, Brussels and Vienna in January ended, according to Moscow, “unsuccessfully”, raising the risk of an escalation of the conflict over Ukraine. The West is calling on Moscow to withdraw troops from the Ukrainian border and is threatening sweeping sanctions in the event of a possible invasion.

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How NATO and Russia are building up their military forces
“Iron Sword” in Lithuania
In Lithuania, until December 2, 2016, military exercises “Iron Sword” of NATO forces are taking place, in which, in addition to Lithuanian military personnel, soldiers from Germany, the USA, Great Britain and Poland take part. Lithuania will host an additional battalion of NATO forces. In the photo: military exercises of NATO soldiers, which took place in the Lithuanian town of Rukla this fall.

How NATO and Russia are building up their military forces
Russia strengthens its positions in the Baltic
The grouping of troops in the Kaliningrad Special Region in 2016 was reinforced by a division of the Bastion coastal missile system. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, new missile systems came into service with the Baltic Fleet in 2016. In the photo: summer exercises of the Russian army in the Baltic

How NATO and Russia are building up their military forces
Strengthening on both sides
This infographic shows that there is a military buildup on both sides. Russia is forming three new divisions on its western borders with a total strength of up to 30,000 servicemen. NATO is sending four battalions to the Baltic states and Poland, each with a thousand soldiers.

How NATO and Russia are building up their military forces
NATO installs missile defense system in Europe
In Romania, in 2016, the Aegis ground-based missile defense base began operating. There is a similar station in Poland. Together with a number of other ground facilities, as well as a group of destroyers, the Romanian base is an integral part of the program for building a European phased adaptive missile defense system (ABM). Russia believes that missile defense is directed against it.

How NATO and Russia are building up their military forces
Iskanders in Kaliningrad
Meanwhile, Russia continues to strengthen the Kaliningrad region. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced that it is realizing its intention to deploy Iskander-M missile systems in the western exclave. According to the Ministry of Defense, they are capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 500 km, Iskanders can be equipped with two types of missiles – ballistic and cruise, and theoretically carry a nuclear warhead.

How NATO and Russia are building up their military forces
Latvia will spend on defense
In the autumn, military exercises were held in various parts of Latvia, including the joint maneuvers of NATO soldiers “Silver Arrow”. In the photo: Latvian Defense Minister Raimonds Bergmanis (center) and US military personnel after military exercises in the Latvian town of Adazi. Bergmanis can expect defense spending to rise by almost 100 million euros in 2017.

How NATO and Russia are building up their military forces
New divisions
For a long time after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the size of the Russian army was reduced. But the announcement of the creation of new divisions, primarily near the Russian-Ukrainian border, could reverse this trend. Experts do not yet know how the Ministry of Defense is going to equip the new divisions with personnel. It is necessary to find about 30 thousand military personnel additionally.

How NATO and Russia are building up their military forces
Major exercise in Poland
In the Baltic region this summer, a major NATO military exercise called “Baltops” took place. Military personnel from 17 countries took part in them – in total over 6,000 soldiers. Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the bloc plans to transfer several hundred thousand soldiers in the member countries of the organization to an enhanced mode of service.

How NATO and Russia are building up their military forces
From howitzers to heavy bombers
Russia is actively testing and putting into service new types of military equipment. These are Su-35S fighters, Tor, Pantsir-S anti-aircraft missile systems, Verba MANPADS, Tornado-G multiple launch rocket systems and drones. Now the level of rearmament of the army, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, is 50 percent.

How NATO and Russia are building up their military forces
“We are not in a cold war with Russia”
In a recent interview with DW, Jens Stoltenberg stated that NATO is not in a cold war with Russia, calling for a more moderate definition. The scale of the military build-up by both sides is, indeed, incomparably smaller than when the arms race between the USSR and NATO was in full swing, as this timeline of the GDR times recalls.
Author: Mikhail Bushuev