Contents tagged with NATO

  • NATO fighters escorted a total of 130 Russian warplanes over Baltics in 2017

    In 2017, fighter aircraft from the Baltic Air Patrol mission deployed in Lithuania and Estonia escorted more Russian military aircraft flying near the borders of the Baltic countries than in any other year except for 2015, reports Delfi news agency, referring to the data of the Ministry of Defense of Lithuania.

    Last year, NATO fighters escorted about 130 aircraft flying over the Baltic Sea. In the year before that, fighters were scrambled about 110 times. There were 160 such escorts in 2015 …

  • Estonian general: during Zapad-2017 exercises, Russia simulated war with NATO

    In an interview with the newspaper Bild, General Riho Terras, Commander of the Estonian Defense Forces said that he believes that Russia modeled war with NATO during the Zapad 2017 exercises.

    "I’ll be blunt: during the Zapad 2017 exercises, Russia simulated a full-scale military attack against NATO. It was not directed only against the Baltic states, as the theater of exercises stretched from the North to the Black Sea. The scale and the area of ​​maneuvers were much larger than officially …

  • Stoltenberg: NATO is once again dealing with 'more self-confident' Russia

    In an interview with the Deutsche publication Wirtschafts Nachrichten, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that NATO is once again dealing with a "more self-confident" Russia.

    He added that NATO does not want a "new cold war…[or] a new arms race". "We want a political dialogue with Russia, even though it won’t be easy," Stoltenberg said. According to the Secretary General, NATO representatives will meet more frequently with Russian military forces this year, and military communication …

  • Stoltenberg: NATO has lost skills in conducting sea military operations

    NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the Alliance has lost some of its offensive skills at sea since the end of the Cold War.

    "NATO has reduced its capabilities at sea, particularly the ability to counter submarines. We are less trained and have lost our skills," he told the German publication Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

    The Secretary-General said this while speaking about the activity of Russian submarines and the strengthening of the Russian Federation's military potential. …

  • Stoltenberg: NATO has tripled the strength of its Response Force

    In an interview with Journal du Dimanche, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg reported that the strength of the Alliance's Response Force has increased over the last three years.

    "After the crisis in Ukraine in 2014, NATO decided to proceed with the biggest reinforcement in a generation. We have tripled the strength of the NATO Response Force to 40,000 men; 5,000 of whom are ready to deploy within a few days," Stoltenberg specified.

    According to Stoltenberg, NATO has also stepped up …

  • Turchynov and NATO Secretary General meet in Brussels to discuss ways to ‘counter Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine’

    Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Oleksandr Turchynov has met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the headquarters of the Alliance in Brussels, as reported on the official website of the NSDC.

    "During the talks, the sides discussed the issue of countering Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine and the hybrid threats that our country is now facing," noted the statement. According to Turchynov, Ukraine, when compared to 2014, presently has a qualitatively …

  • Ukrainian Foreign Ministry: Ukraine and NATO have not formally prepared ministerial meeting of joint commission for December

    Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have not formally prepared for a December meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the NATO-Ukraine Commission, reported the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

    The Ministry notes that events at the level of the Foreign Ministers of NATO are usually held twice a year: once in April or May, and a second time within the first ten days of December.

    The meeting of the Foreign Ministers in December was envisaged by an annual national program …

  • General Ben Hodges: to resist new aggression Ukraine must show that it is ready for it

    In an interview to Evropeyskaya Pravda during the Lviv Security Forum, United States Army Commander in Europe, Ben Hodges believes that the only way to prevent a new Russian invasion of Ukraine is to demonstrate preparedness to such a scenario, so that everyone realizes that Ukraine is capable of resisting.

    "I don't think we can talk about the high probability of such a scenario," he said, responding to a question of whether the danger of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine remains to …

  • Ben Hodges: Reforms and transparency in spending are the key requirements for Ukraine to be able to join NATO

    Two key principles Ukraine should adhere to if it wants to join NATO are transparency in the use of budget means and reforms, as stated by the United States Army Commander in Europe, Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, as reported by Ukrainian 24 TV.

    He also noted that Ukraine has great potential for producing its own weapons.

    "Firstly, the decision to provide lethal weapons is being made at the highest level.  We are now providing recommendations on this issue. Let’s see how the situation …

  • NATO: 60% of Russian-speaking Twitter users who write about the Alliance in the Baltic States are bots

    NATO's Strategic Communications Center of Excellence reports that 60% of Russian-speaking Twitter users are bots, according to the Center, which was founded in Riga, Latvia, The Voice of America reports.

    "Russian-speaking bots create about 70% of all Russian NATO reports in the Baltic States and Poland. In general, 60% of active Russian-speaking accounts are automated. In comparison, 39% of account tweeting in English are bots,” the report notes.

    The research notes that its conclusions are …