NATO brings Patriot missiles closer to Russia
(Baonghean.vn) - Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas announced that NATO will deploy US-made Patriot air defense missile systems in this Baltic country. Lithuania shares a border with Russia's Kaliningrad region as well as with Russia's ally Belarus.
“This year, the rotational air defense system will officially become operational, at least partially,” Lithuanian Defense Minister Anusauskas said at a press conference in Vilnius, state television LRT reported. “Our goal is to have a rotation similar to the air policing mission,” Anusauskas added, referring to regular patrol flights by NATO aircraft in the airspace of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
“This principle will not be implemented just once in a few months, but will cover all our calendar months and significantly strengthen our air defense capabilities,” said Minister Anusauskas.
Last year, the US and its European allies transferred several Patriot batteries to Ukraine as part of efforts to support Kiev in its conflict with Moscow.
The Washington-led military bloc has deployed more forces to Eastern Europe and the Baltic states in recent years, citing the ongoing military campaign in Ukraine. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned last month that the Western alliance “must prepare for a confrontation that could last decades.”
For its part, Russia believes that NATO's continued expansion eastward and its cooperation with Kiev are the underlying causes of the current conflict. Russian officials have repeatedly stressed that the country considers NATO military units near its borders a threat to its national security.
In January, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that the deployment of additional foreign forces in Lithuania “would only lead to an escalation of military tensions.”
