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NATO secretary general tells Canada and allies to keep Russia in check

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NATOs top official says Canada and the rest of the military alliance should be prepared to keep in place efforts to deter Russian aggression in Europe for years.

Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, made a brief stop in Canada on Monday to meet Stephen Harper and discuss alliance business.

Its been more than one year since Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed Ukraines Crimean Peninsula a shock to European security that breathed new life into NATO and its Cold War collective defence pact.

Russias belligerent turn continues unabated, with a shaky ceasefire between Russian-backed rebels and Kiev in eastern Ukraine and military exercises close to Estonia. On Saturday, Moscows Ambassador to Denmark, Mikhail Vanin, threatened to train nuclear missiles on Danish warships if Copenhagen joins a U.S.-led missile defence shield; Denmarks frigates would carry special radar systems as part of the effort.

Mr. Stoltenberg rejected Russias concerns about the program. Its a defensive system and Russians know its not targeted at Russia, he said in an interview Monday.

He said the Russian ambassadors comments are part of a pattern weve seen over time where Moscow has beefed up military spending, dispatched bombers on more training runs in international airspace, demonstrated the willingness to use force and featured talk of its nuclear arsenal prominently in messaging.

NATO has reacted in the past year by overhauling its defence plans and moving troops, airplanes and warships closer to its eastern flank. Canada has joined air patrols along the Baltic states that border Russia, deployed troops to joint NATO exercises in the region and assigned a vessel to allied patrols in the Black Sea and Mediterranean.

The alliance has created a 5,000-troop rapid reaction force that can be deployed in Europe within 48 hours and is more than doubling the size of its existing NATO reaction force to 30,000 soldiers.

Its also creating six command and control centres in the Baltic states and the member countries along its eastern flank, including Poland, Bulgaria and Romania, that could co-ordinate military action should the need arise.

The response is to make sure our deterrence is credible in the future, Mr. Stoltenberg said.

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NATO secretary general tells Canada and allies to keep Russia in check

NATO Spending Failing to Match Rhetoric on Russia Threat

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Ints Kalnins / ReutersSoldiers of the U.S. Army deployed in Latvia as part of NATO's Operation Atlantic Resolve during a joint military exercise Feb. 26.

Russian military expansion over thepast year has electrified NATO, but theCold War military alliance is failing todeliver onpromised increases indefense spending.

Six months after pledging tohit 2 percent spending targets across theentire alliance by2020, only those NATO members onRussia's periphery are moving toquickly boost defense budgets, while most ofWestern Europe continues tocut or freeze spending.

Although only half ofthe alliance's 28 states have published budget predictions for2015, astudy released last week bythe European Leadership Network (ELN), aLondon-based think tank, revealed that action has lagged behind rhetoric since last September, when members agreed toreverse defense cuts andmove closer tothe 2 percent target ata summit inWales.

"It comes down towho inEurope is really inclined totake aninterest indefending itself against Russia or any other threat," said Keir Giles, anexpert inRussian security policy atChatham House.

Russia's annexation ofCrimea last year, support forpro-Russian rebels ineastern Ukraine andexpanded aerial andnaval patrols have rattled NATO. But though thealliance sees Russia as aproblem, only newer members, many ofthem inEastern Europe, see thethreat as serious enough tochange domestic funding priorities.

Russia has been pouring vast sums ofmoney intoits military. But NATO still vastly outspends Moscow andits forces are considered tobe better trained, equipped andmore experienced.

NATO's European members spent acollective $269 billion ondefense last year, according todata collected bythe Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Russia in2014 budgeted 3.4 percent ofits gross domestic product, or 2.5 trillion rubles (around $70 billion, adjusting forexchange rate volatility), ondefense, thehead ofthe State Duma's defense committee, Admiral Vladimir Komoyedov, said inOctober, adding that 2015's budget could reach as high as 4.2 percent ofRussian output.

Anemic economic growth andefforts tocut spending amid high public debt inWestern Europe have dampened calls tofund against aresurgent Russian threat.

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NATO Spending Failing to Match Rhetoric on Russia Threat

Ukraine-NATO: true story of military cooperation. Ukraine Crisis Media Center, 20th of March 2015 – Video

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Ukraine-NATO: true story of military cooperation. Ukraine Crisis Media Center, 20th of March 2015
Topic: Ukraine-NATO: true story of military cooperation Marcin Koziel, Head of NATO Liaison Office in Ukraine Col. Andriy Ordynovych, Acting Head of the Main Military Cooperation and...

By: Ukraine Crisis Media Center

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Ukraine-NATO: true story of military cooperation. Ukraine Crisis Media Center, 20th of March 2015 - Video

Belgium: NATO’s Stoltenberg clashes with Russia’s Kosachev over troops in Ukraine – Video

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Belgium: NATO #39;s Stoltenberg clashes with Russia #39;s Kosachev over troops in Ukraine
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Chairman of the International Affairs Committee of Russia #39;s State Duma Konstantin Kosachev clashed during a panel discussion pn Ukraine at the ...

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Belgium: NATO's Stoltenberg clashes with Russia's Kosachev over troops in Ukraine - Video

Rathke: NATO exercises dont raise tensions. 20 March 2015 (& Matt Lee) – Video

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Rathke: NATO exercises dont raise tensions. 20 March 2015 ( Matt Lee)
Jeff Rathke, Press Office Director, U.S. Department of State - Daily Briefing: March.20.2015 http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/index.htm RT journalist Gayane Chichakyan struggles to get a definitiv...

By: Schwejk

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Rathke: NATO exercises dont raise tensions. 20 March 2015 (& Matt Lee) - Video

"Zero-sum? Russia, power politics and the post-cold war era" at Brussels Forum, 21 MAR 2015 – Video

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"Zero-sum? Russia, power politics and the post-cold war era" at Brussels Forum, 21 MAR 2015
Zero-Sum? Russia, Power Politics, and the post-Cold War Era. Session at the German Marshall Fund, Brussels Forum, 20 March 2015. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg participated...

By: NATO

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"Zero-sum? Russia, power politics and the post-cold war era" at Brussels Forum, 21 MAR 2015 - Video

NATO leaders balk at Russia's threat to nuke warships

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U.S. troops place a Patriot air and missile defense launching system at a test range in Sochaczew, Poland, March 21, 2015, as part of a joint exercise with Polish troops to demonstrate the U.S. Army's capacity to deploy Patriot systems rapidly within NATO territory. Getty

BUCHAREST, Romania -- Britain's defense secretary says NATO members Romania and Britain will not be intimidated by threats against members of the military alliance.

"Neither Romania nor Britain will be intimidated by threats to its alliance or its members," Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said Monday during a one-day visit.

His remarks came days after Russia's ambassador to Denmark, Mikhail Vanin, said in a published report that Danish warships could become targets for Russian nuclear missiles if the Danes join the alliance's missile defense system. Bases are planned in the southern Romanian town of Deveselu and in Poland.

"I do not think Danes fully understand the consequences of what happens if Denmark joins the U.S.-led missile defense. If this happens, Danish warships become targets for Russian nuclear missiles," Vanin was quoted as saying by the newspaper Jyllands-Posten on Saturday.

Should Danes join "we risk considering each other as enemies," he added.

Vanin's comments prompted an angry response from Danish Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard, who said they were "unacceptable" and that Vanin had "crossed the line" by saying that "everyone who joins" the shield "in the future will be a target for Russian ballistic missiles."

However, Lidegaard added that "it is important that the tone between us doesn't escalate."

"It never has and never had anything to do with Russia," Lidegaard said about the missile shield, saying the defense system was aimed at protecting against rogue states or terrorist organizations, among others.

U.S. Ambassador to Denmark Rufus Gifford wrote on Twitter Saturday that Vanin's comments "do not inspire confidence" or contribute to peace and stability.

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NATO leaders balk at Russia's threat to nuke warships

Harper To Talk ISIL With NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

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OTTAWA - NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is making his first visit to Canada this week, with the subject of how to address rising tensions with Russia likely to feature high on the agenda.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is scheduled to meet with Stoltenberg on Monday, and a Canadian source close to the meetings said the threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) would be a major topic of discussion.

Harper plans to ask the House of Commons to extend and expand Canada's military involvement this week.

But NATO has had no formal role to date in fighting ISIL. Russian President Vladmir Putin's recent moves, including mobilizing 45,000 northern troops for military exercises last week, have been the alliance's major preoccupation.

On Sunday, NATO's supreme allied commander Gen. Philip Breedlove told a news conference that the west should consider sending defensive weapons into Ukraine. The UN has said 6,000 people have died in the country over the past year.

The United States has been actively considering sending lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine to help that country defend itself against Russian-backed fighters. Germany has urged caution, warning that supplying Ukraine could escalate tensions.

Defence Minister Jason Kenney has dropped broad hints that Canada could be poised to provide Ukraine with more military assistance. He has said cabinet is considering whether Canada should join the U.S. and Britain in a military training mission to help Ukrainian troops.

Stoltenberg, a former Norwegian cabinet minister who took up the post last October, has warned that snap Russian military exercises and less communication between Russia and NATO could have dire consequences.

"It is important we keep the channels for military communication open to have as much transparency as possible to avoid misunderstandings and to make sure that incidents don't spiral and get out of control," Stoltenberg told the Guardian newspaper last week.

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Harper To Talk ISIL With NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

Russia threatens Denmark over NATO shield

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Russia threatened to aim nuclear missiles at Danish warships if Denmark joins NATO's missile defence system, in comments Copenhagen called unacceptable and NATO said would not contribute to peace.

Denmark said in August it would contribute radar capacity on some of its warships to the missile shield, which the Western alliance says is designed to protect members from missile launches from countries like Iran.

Moscow opposes the system, arguing that it could reduce the effectiveness of its own nuclear arsenal, leading to a new Cold War-style arms race.

In an interview in the newspaper Jyllands-Posten, the Russian ambassador to Denmark, Mikhail Vanin, said he did not think Danes fully understood the consequences of joining the programme.

"If that happens, Danish warships will be targets for Russian nuclear missiles," Vanin told the newspaper.

Asked to respond, NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said Denmark was a staunch member of the alliance and NATO would defend all allies against any threat.

"We have made clear that NATO's ballistic missile defence is not directed at Russia or any country, but is meant to defend against missile threats. This decision was taken a long time ago, so we are surprised at the timing, tone and content of the statements made by Russia's ambassador to Denmark," she said.

"Such statements do not inspire confidence or contribute to predictability, peace or stability," she added.

Tensions between Moscow and the West have grown since the imposition of economic sanctions on Russia over a pro-Russian rebellion in eastern Ukraine. NATO has recorded increased activity by the Russian navy and air force in the Nordic region.

No missiles are to be placed on Danish soil under the NATO programme, but they could be deployed some day in Greenland, a part of the kingdom, according to Jyllands-Posten.

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Russia threatens Denmark over NATO shield


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