Photo: Mindaugas Kulbis / AP
The German authorities are ready to send an additional 350 troops to Lithuania to support the NATO military contingent in Eastern Europe, says in a statement by the German Ministry of Defense on Twitter.
“We have just informed the Bundestag that up to 350 additional troops could be deployed to the battle group in Lithuania. Minister [обороны Германии Кристине] Lambrecht coordinated this with partners in the Baltics, ”the Defense Ministry said.
Zakharova said that Russian troops are “where they need”
NATO began to build up its military presence in Eastern Europe amid accusations against Russia of preparing an invasion of Ukraine from the West. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg admitted that Moscow could use the Allied Resolve 2022 exercise with Minsk, which is taking place on the territory of Belarus, to “disguise” the invasion.
The Foreign Ministers of Latvia and Estonia, Edgars Rinkevics and Eva-Maria Liimets, called on the alliance to increase its presence on the Eastern European flank in this case. At the same time, Liimets expressed the hope that “there will be no permanent presence of Russian troops in Belarus,” and Germany refused to supply weapons to Ukraine because of the possibility of a Russian invasion.