Apr. 24, 2014

NATOs Eastern European members are growing increasingly nervous about Russias moves and the alliances ability, or even willingness, to counter them. MORE

United States plans to carry out small ground-force exercises in Poland and Estonia; exercises are an attempt to reassure NATO's Eastern European members worried about Russia's military operations in and near Ukraine. MORE

NATO airstrike in eastern Afghanistan kills a woman and two children, again raising the issue of civilian casualties at time when both country's presidential election and future of Western troop presence there are unresolved. MORE

NATO releases satellite photographs showing a menacing force of Russian fighter jets and tanks, along with as many as 40,000 troops, near Russia's border with Ukraine; photos offer evidence of a military buildup that the West says Russia could use to invade Ukraine at any moment. MORE

United States and NATO issue stern warnings to Moscow about further intervention in Ukraine's affairs amid continuing fears of eventual Russian incursion; move comes as government in Kiev takes action against pro-Russian protesters. MORE

NATO's top commander Gen Philip M Breedlove says 40,000 troops Russia has within striking distance of Ukraine are poised to attack on 12 hours notice and could accomplish their military objectives within three to five days. MORE

NATOs foreign ministers vow to strengthen alliances military presence on territory of its Eastern European members because of Russias military intervention in Ukraine; move codifies and expands on steps alliance has already taken to protest Russia's annexation of Crimea. MORE

NATO announces that former Norwegian Prime Min Jens Stoltenberg will lead the alliance starting on Oct 1; appointment comes as United States reaffirms its commitment to the Western military alliance as a way of containing an increasingly assertive Russia led by Pres Vladimir V Putin. MORE

Pres Obama and European leaders pledge to bolster NATO alliance and vow that Russia will not be allowed to run roughshod over its neighbors, but military reality on the ground in Europe tells a different story; United States has drastically cut back its European forces from a decade ago, and European countries have struggled and largely failed to come up with additional military spending at a time of economic anemia and budget cuts. MORE

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North Atlantic Treaty Organization - The New York Times