President Barack Obama has pledged up to $1bn in new US funding for European defence, reasserting Washington’s role in the region despite warnings from Russia that any military build up near its borders with eastern Europe could provoke a new arms race and a new Cold War.
The announcement at the beginning of Mr Obama’s four-day trip to Europe coincided with heavy fighting in Ukraine, where government forces launched a fresh offensive against the pro-Russian citizens.
Eastern European elites are also seeking reassurances the US will protect them from their voters.
Obama referred to this new geopolitical landscape as he flew into Warsaw. Speaking in front of four F-16 fighter jets, he said America’s commitment was particularly important now. “The security of our allies in central and eastern Europe is a cornerstone of our own security, and it is sacrosanct,” Mr Obama said.
He will ask Congress to approve $1bn in new funding, which is earmarked for training and exercises for Nato forces, military equipment, naval deployments in the Black and Baltic Seas, and an increase in the deployment of US planners and advisers in eastern Europe.
The US has already sent 150 troops to Poland and more to the Baltic states, but Mr Obama was clear that they were not trying to provoke military confrontation with Russia. “We are interested in good relations with Russia. We are not interested in threatening Russia,” he said.
Russia is deeply suspicious of any creep of Nato forces towards its borders, and Moscow’s envoy to Nato warned on Monday that new rotations of troops or a build-up of military hardware would provoke a reaction.
“All this could cast Europe back to the days of the Cold War and launch an arms race,” Alexander Grushko was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.
Nato defence ministers also met in Brussels with Ukraine at the top of the agenda. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Secretary General of the military alliance, said that they would be assessing their long-term response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine. He also praised America’s leadership in the crisis.
Source: The Independent