NATO ups the ante, Russia accuses West of hysteria

RUSSIA: NATO said on Monday it was putting forces on standby and reinforcing eastern Europe with more ships and fighter jets, in what Russia denounced as an escalation of tensions over Ukraine.

Welcoming a series of deployments announced by alliance members in recent days, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said NATO would “continue to take all necessary measures to protect and defend all allies, including by reinforcing the eastern part of the alliance.”

The move was a further sign that the West is bracing for Russia to attack its neighbour after massing an estimated 100,000 troops in reach of the Ukrainian border.

Denmark, Spain, France and the Netherlands were all planning or considering sending troops, planes or ships to eastern Europe, NATO said. Ukraine shares borders with four NATO countries: Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.

“The United States has also made clear that it is considering increasing its military presence in the eastern part of the Alliance,” it said.

U.S. officials said the Pentagon was finalising efforts to identify specific units that could deploy. The United States is considering sending thousands of additional troops to NATO’s eastern flank, two U.S. officials told Agencies. One of the officials said up to 5,000 could be deployed.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused the West of “hysteria” and putting out information “laced with lies”.

“As for specific actions, we see statements by the North Atlantic Alliance about reinforcement, pulling forces and resources to the eastern flank. All this leads to the fact that tensions are growing,” he said.

“This is not happening because of what we, Russia, are doing. This is all happening because of what NATO and the U.S. are doing and due to the information they are spreading.”

– INDIAN EXPRESS