London on Friday said it might send more hundreds of troops to allied countries neighboring Ukraine as a “deterrent” to Russia, beefing up the UK’s contribution to NATO’s operations in the region.
The Times reported citing defence sources that the alliance members had reportedly held high-level talks about bolstering their military presence in the Baltic States and Poland.
This came right after UK Foreign Minister Liz Truss warned Russian President Vladimir Putin to “step back from Ukraine before he makes a massive strategic mistake,” as quoted by The Times.
Currently, the United Kingdom leads a NATO battle group of 1,200 troops in Estonia, where it has tanks, armored vehicles, air defence systems, and intelligence assets, according to the media.
Poland hosts 140 UK troops as part of NATO’s mission too.
When asked about the timing of the deployment discussed, a source told the newspaper: “If there was a NATO ally about to have Russian troops knocking on their doorstep, then they (the force) would be there quickly.”
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On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow does not give cause to provoke a conflict situation around Ukraine.
Accused by the West and Kiev of “aggressive actions,” Russia has repeatedly rejected the allegations and stated that it has no intention to invade any country.
The accusations, however, might be seen as a pretext for deployment of NATO military equipment near Russian borders, according to Moscow.
