On Aug. 7, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued two statements on the buildup of the U.S. military in Europe. The first statement was a comment on U.S. plans to send more troops to Poland and the Baltic states. “A higher concentration of the U.S. Armed Forces’ attack units on the so-called Russia-NATO contact line, just like any reconfiguration of the U.S. military presence closer to the Russian border, will not enhance security in Europe, no matter how hard Washington may try to prove the opposite,” said Deputy Director of the Information and Press Department Alexey Zaytsev. “On the contrary, such actions escalate tensions in Europe. We have emphasized more than once that attempts to deter us by force and intimidate our country will receive a befitting and timely response.”
Zaytsev’s second statement questioned claims that foreign troop presence in Norway was declining. He asserted that with “joint exercises,” concentrations are actually increasing and are “particularly active in the areas adjacent to the Russia-Norway border,” and said, “We believe such actions by Oslo are destabilizing the situation in the region.”
Meanwhile, retired British Gen. Sir Mike Jackson, Chief of the Defense Staff 2003-2006, opined that Britain’s 80,000 troop Army is “a shadow” of what it had been. “We are down to the position where really if we get it right we can field a single division. Perhaps of two or three brigades. That is [the] maximum effort we could expect of today’s Army.”
