NATO countries are set to kick off major war games in northeast Estonia near the border with Russia on Monday, focusing on the rapid deployment of the bloc’s forces and increasing their interoperability.
Some 2,000 troops from Estonia, Latvia, the USA, France, and the Britain are set to take part in the two-week Pikne (‘Lightning’) exercise, which is part of NATO’s broader Brilliant Eagle program dedicated to increasing the bloc’s deployment and cooperation capabilities in the Baltic Sea region.
According to the commander of the Estonian Division, Major General Indrek Sirel, who is leading the exercises, the war games will focus on rapid deployment of reinforcements and cooperation between French, British and Estonian forces.
Units of the French Armed Forces will carry out a rapid deployment operation to Estonia by air, followed by joint multinational maneuvers on land, air and sea, Sirel said in a press release.
The first week of the exercises will be dedicated to the movement of units and practicing cooperation in various regions of north and northeast Estonia as well as the Gulf of Finland, and will focus on conducting operations as a multinational force to counter an emerging threat on land, in the air, and at the sea.
The second week will involve live-fire exercises with heavy combat equipment and military aircraft. Estonian residents have been warned that low-altitude flights will be taking place over parts of the country as part of the exercises, and that loud noises will likely be heard due to the use of simulation ammunition.
The exercise comes as tensions between Russia and NATO have continued to escalate. Moscow has repeatedly stressed that the expansion of the US-led bloc towards its borders represents a threat to its security.
In October, Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko also claimed that NATO is no longer hiding the fact that it is gearing up for a potential military conflict with Russia by continuing to hold increasingly larger military exercises near its borders.
The USA is not considering giving Ukraine nuclear arms, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has said. Last month, a New York Times report claimed that some officials in Washington wanted to arm Kiev with atomic weapons.
Russia’s nuclear doctrine allows for the use of atomic weapons in the event of a first nuclear strike on its territory or infrastructure, or if Russia’s sovereignty or territorial integrity is critically threatened by either nuclear or conventional weapons.
The most recent iteration of the doctrine also allows Moscow to treat an attack by a non-nuclear state backed by a nuclear power as equivalent to direct nuclear aggression.
RT. com / ABC Flash Point News 2024.
Yeah, the usual U.S. crap as around North Korea and China like some punk bully throwing fake punches at you to try to intimidate you or get you to defend yourself so they can shoot you and claim “Stand Your Ground”. It’s embarrassing to be an American, and to still feel something about being an ex-Marine even knowing the tools of GREED-driven pathology that we have always been… and this isn’t a case of America getting ‘worse’, it’s a case of getting to know my America better… so, young lad, if you would be a ‘patriotic’ American, NEVER deep read… Read more »
Fire another Oreshnik or two and you will have the Swedes, Fins and Poles doing the NATO dance, too.
You have your countries sense of values exactly right AM and because of that it makes you a “threat ” to your own leaders , I don’t really blame the American public as they are brought up to respect big business no matter how corrupt they are , to achieve high school and college degrees , if you don’t its harder to get a well paying job also I noticed to admire $$ millionaires . Many years ago on a US radical website I was in contact with a USA Marine Major because he criticized the US,s adherence to Israel… Read more »
How the US invades a tiny country quickly with the disguise 🥸 of war games
I like it that Russia and its friends have refused to back down, the most interesting part is that they are gaining allies each day and business is booming. In the EU, winter is here, no cheap gas, no cheap electricity, even industries are closing and still they want to go to war.