The head of the North Atlantic Alliance made a rather provocative statement about Russia. According to Jens Stoltenberg, Russia, in addition to large-scale military exercises, simulated nuclear strikes, in particular, on Sweden in March 2013.
"As part of its overall military build-up, the pace of Russia's military maneuvers and drills have reached levels unseen since the height of the Cold War," Stoltenberg wrote in the report.
Russia conducted 18 major exercises, some of which involved more than 100,000 troops. According to the NATO chief, the drills were conducted to simulate nuclear strikes on NATO and its partners.
Meanwhile, US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said that the Pentagon was planning to receive $ 3.4 billion in 2017 to support US allies and their forces in Europe against the backdrop of Russia's policy in Ukraine. Thus, the Pentagon plans to increase defense spending four times.
Later, US President Barack Obama officially announced the increase of support for allies in Europe to 3.7 billion dollars "to curb the Russian aggression." However, Josh Earnest stated that one should interpret the move as a failure of diplomacy in its relations with Russia.
Pravda.Ru
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