US Weighing Military Exercises in Eastern Europe

Local Editor

The United States is considering plans to deploy hundreds of forces for military exercises to begin in Poland and Estonia in the next few weeks, a Western official said on Monday.
 
The official said ground exercises in Poland and Estonia would last about two weeks, but such exercises would continue off and on over time, and other locations in Eastern Europe would be considered.

No specific date for the deployment of an Army company has been set but an announcement is expected next week, the official said.

The official was not authorized to discuss the plan by name because it has not been made final and requested anonymity.

The exercises would follow Russia's buildup of forces near its border with Ukraine and its annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula last month.
War Secretary Chuck Hagel in recent days has said the US is looking for ways to reassure its NATO allies of its strong commitment to collective military.

The Pentagon's press secretary, Rear Adm. John Kirby, also said in a statement on Friday that American officials are considering a range of additional measures to strengthen air, maritime and ground readiness in Europe.

Kirby's statement about additional measures didn't offer specifics. ``Some of those activities will be pursued bilaterally with individual NATO nations. Some will be pursued through the alliance itself,'' he said.

On Thursday, Hagel met at the Pentagon with his Polish counterpart, Tomasz Siemoniak, and told reporters that they had identified new areas of military-to-military cooperation, including special operations forces, air forces and additional military exercises and training, as part of their discussion of closer defense ties.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Siemoniak said the decision to deploy US ground forces to Poland had been made on a political level and that details were being worked out, the newspaper reported.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team