US commander claims sizeable Russian forces ready to 'run into' Moldova
Iran Press TV
Sun Mar 23, 2014 8:55PM GMT
US Air Force General Philip Breedlove says that Russia has built up a large military force on its border with Ukraine, warning that Moldova's separatist Trans-Dniester region could be Moscow's next target.
Breedlove, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told an event held by the German Marshall Fund think-tank on Sunday that the Russian force that began maneuvers 10 days ago is "very, very sizeable and very, very ready."
'There is absolutely sufficient force postured on the eastern border of Ukraine to run to Trans-Dniester if the decision was made to do that. That is very worrisome,' Breedlove said.
He added that the 28-nation Western alliance should rethink the positioning and readiness of its forces in eastern Europe.
This as, the US has stepped up the deployment of its military forces to eastern Europe, including the dispatch of fighter jets and surveillance equipment to Poland and the Baltic states. This month, six F-15C Eagles and more than 60 American troops arrived at Siauliai air base, Lithuania, while twelve F-16 fighter jets and 300 US soldiers landed in Poland.
On Wednesday, the US conducted war games with allied states in the Black Sea.
A US Naval Forces official stated that the USS Truxtun, a US Navy guided-missile destroyer, conducted a one-day military exercise with the Bulgarian and Romanian navies a few hundred kilometers from the Russian forces deployed in the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.
On March 16, nearly 97 percent of residents of the autonomous Ukrainian region of Crimea voted to break away from Ukraine and rejoin Russia in a referendum. The decision triggered the biggest crisis in relations between the West and Russia since the Cold War.
On March 17, Crimea declared independence and formally applied to become part of Russia. Next day, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty making Crimea part of Russia, saying the vote demonstrated the overwhelming will of the Crimean people to be reunited with Russia.
This week, the US and the European Union imposed sanctions on several individuals from Russia and Ukraine, arguing they were involved in Russia's military build-up in the peninsula.
GJH/DT
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