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Published on May 19, 2015
BRUSSELS | Just a few hours ago NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg reached his breaking point taking the world one step closer to war with Russia.
Stoltenberg demanded that Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov withdraw all support for Russian separatists, because of the large number of Russian military exercises being conducted on the border of Ukraine.
This is a very troubling development coming on the heels of NATO's own massive live fire exercises with American troops less than a day's march away in Estonia.
And just last month Putin threatened Nuclear war if NATO remained active in the Baltics.
In response to Putin, NATO raised the stakes. Wasting no time collecting nearly 13000 troops to flex their muscle on Russia's back door during Operation Hedgehog.
Hedgehog is the largest scale military exercise conducted by the Estonian military and NATO forces since World War 2.
Estonia shares a border with Russia and is only 5 hours from St. Petersburg and 11 hours from Moscow.
NATO's threats stem from what they referred to as "short-notice" military exercises conducted by Russian forces adding that "incidents are spiraling out of control"
High visibility live fire Military exercises are being carried out by both sides for the world to see ramping up tensions in the region.
One false move could drive the entire world into World War 3.
originally posted by: Zcustosmorum
Let's take a closer look at this article, some weird site I've never heard of before, there's no actual and direct quotes being used and we have some rabid, sensationalist-seeking person blabbing on about this & that with no direct evidence.
I wouldn't hold out much hope on the credibility of this article
I just met with Foreign Minister Lavrov and we discussed different issues, among them of course the situation in Ukraine and I re-stated the very strong NATO position on the illegal annexation of Crimea, but also on the very serious situation we see in eastern Ukraine. I underlined the importance of full implementation of the Minsk Agreements meaning respect for the ceasefire, full implementation of the ceasefire, the withdrawal of heavy weapons and of course full access for the OSCE monitors so they can monitor the implementation of the ceasefire.
I also called on Russia to withdraw all its troops and support for the separatists. We also discussed the importance of transparency and predictability especially in a situation where we have increased military presence along our borders. And for NATO it is important to do whatever we can to avoid that the incidents and the situation is spiralling out of control. And therefore we are very focussed on transparency related to all our exercises and we are fully transparent when it comes to when and where we are going to conduct exercises.
I also very much underline that we should strive for even more transparency and predictability and we are concerned about the large numbers of snap exercises conducted by Russia because this decreases transparency and predictability. Therefore the snap exercises, the numbers but also the size of the snap exercises, reduce predictability and transparency along our borders and I think we should try to change that by also the Russians being more transparent when it comes to their military activities.
We also addressed the question of lines of communications – military lines of communications. I stated that these lines of military communication between NATO and Russia – we keep them open and we check them. It is important to have these lines of communication and also they can contribute to more predictability and avoiding any misunderstandings.
So these were the main issues we discussed and NATO’s position remains unchanged. We have suspended all practical cooperation with Russia as a response to their behaviour in Crimea and Ukraine. But we are keeping the lines of political contact open and we will continue to do so. I met Foreign Minister Lavrov in Munich and now I met him here and there are regular contacts on both the diplomatic and political level between NATO and Russia. Thank you.
Question: What are your expectations regarding the upcoming meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg? Are relations between Russia and NATO improving?
Sergey Lavrov: I met with Jens Stoltenberg at his request on the sidelines of the Munich Conference on Security Policy in February. A similar request was made in connection with my stay here in Brussels at a meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. We never avoid contacts. These are, in fact, the reasons for today’s meeting.
The contacts and the mechanisms of interaction between Russia and NATO used to be very intensive and diverse, but the North Atlantic Alliance has frozen them. Let’s hear what they have to say to us.
originally posted by: EternalSolace
Hypothetically, if NATO did start a war, is the US obliged to back NATO?
Or any country for that matter?
originally posted by: introvert
Not buying it for one second.
NNN, and the man that runs it, is a sensationalist nutbag that can be compared to Alex Jones.
World | Tue May 19, 2015 8:43am EDT
Related: World
NATO's Stoltenberg tells Russia's Lavrov to pull out of Ukraine
BRUSSELS
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday he had told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that Russia must withdraw all troops and heavy weapons from Ukraine and end its support for separatists.
The western military alliance's chief added that he had informed Lavrov, after a meeting in Brussels, that he was concerned about the large number of military exercises carried out by Russia at short notice.
"We also discussed the need for transparency, especially when we have an increased military presence along our borders... for NATO it is important to do whatever we can to avoid that incidents are spiraling out of control," he told reporters.
....
Drill spree: NATO tanks arrive for military exercise in Estonia
Published time: March 14, 2015 13:49
Edited time: March 15, 2015 08:32
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US Abrams tanks and paratroopers have arrived at a military base in the town of Tapa, Estonia, for upcoming exercises. The alliance continues its series of wargames at Russia's borders, claiming its allies are facing aggression.
The arrival is part of preparations for drills set for May 4 to 15, codenamed Siil 2015 (which translates as Hedgehog 2015), says a statement by the Estonian Joint Staff. The exercise will employ 13,000 Estonian troops, as well as the American forces stationed in the country. The US armor and servicemen will also take part in rotation, replacing the American contingent currently stationed in Estonia.
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Unidentified Drone Observes Historic NATO Drill In Estonia Meant To Scare Russia
By Cristina Silva @cristymsilva [email protected] on May 15 2015 1:05 PM EDT
An unidentified drone spied on NATO's largest-ever military exercises in Estonia this week, reported Estonian newspaper Eesti Päevaleht. The drills, scheduled to end on Friday, come amid growing tensions between Russia and NATO over the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
One NATO reservist said his unit was monitored by the unmanned aerial vehicle at least three times during the drills, reported Sputnik International, a Russian news website. "During one of its arrivals, the drone hovered over a camp, and everyone was on heightened alert. Next time, the drone flew over a completely random area in the forest, where one of our units was stationed at the time. But it was not just a casual interest," the reservist said.
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