US, NATO start military drills in eastern Europe - Pentagon

News | 25.03.2015 | 10:35

TASS - US started military drills codenamed Atlantic Resolve in Bulgaria and Romania, Pentagon spokesman Army Colonel Steve Warren said on Tuesday. US 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team landed in Galati, where joint drills with Romanian troops started, Warren said. At the same time, maneuvers took place in Bulgaria with the participation of two units of US Army Command in Europe, he added. Last week, US and Poland held joint drills aimed at training the deployment of Patriot missile defense system. Polish Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said that the two countries plan to actively cooperate in defense in the future. Large-scale international military drills codenamed Operation Summer Shield XXII started in Latvia on March 22. More than 1,100 troops from Latvia, Lithuania, US, UK, Canada and Luxembourg participate in the exercise. The maneuvers will continue up to March 31. The exercise will include two stages. The first stage will take place on March 23-28, with theoretical and practical exercise. The second stage will be held on March 29-31 and include field tactical exercise in daytime and at night with the use of artillery, with the aim of integrating and coordinating fire support for infantry during ground operations. US and NATO are holding Atlantic Resolve drills to strengthen security in the alliance’s member-countries in light of the situation in and around Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly expressed concern over growing number of NATO military drills in eastern Europe. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexey Meshkov said last week that the growing number of NATO drills near Russian borders leads to destabilization of the situation in north-eastern Europe.

Tags: NATO Pentagon Bulgaria Romania