Amid Russia-Ukraine tensions, NATO deploys ships & fighter jets to eastern Europe

Amid soaring tensions between Russia and Ukraine, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Monday informed that it’s putting in extra forces on standby and deploying more ships and fighter jets to Eastern Europe, reported AP. According to the news agency, the intergovernmental military alliance averred that it's beefing up its “deterrence” presence in the Baltic Sea area. As of now, Denmark said it has sent a frigate to the Baltic Sea and deployed F-16 warplanes to Lithuania while Spain informed it sent ships to join NATO’s standing maritime force and considering sending fighter jets to Bulgaria. However, France said it was ready to send troops to Bulgaria.

"NATO will continue to take all necessary measures to protect and defend all Allies, including by reinforcing the eastern part of the Alliance. We will always respond to any deterioration of our security environment, including through strengthening our collective defence,” AP quoted NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg as saying.

Earlier, US President Joe Biden asserted that Washington is weighing the deployment of troops, warships, and aircraft to NATO allies reported news agency Sputnik. The heavy deployment came as US intelligence reports claimed over one lakh Russian troops are pressed near the Ukraine border by President Vladimir Putin. As per the report, the Russian forces have reportedly made all preparations to "invade Ukraine" at any point in time. However, Putin refuted the intelligence reports and called the allegations "baseless" on multiple occasions.

US sanctioned $200 million military aid to Ukraine

Earlier last week, the US sanctioned an additional amount of $200 million to Kyiv in a bid to boost its military power against Moscow. It had also approved three NATO allies to rush anti-armour missiles and other US-made weapons to Ukraine. While speaking to AP, an official on the condition of anonymity said that the aid was approved as a part of American efforts to help Ukraine protect itself. The aid was approved in late December last year. "We are committed to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and will continue to provide Ukraine with the support it needs," the official said on the condition of anonymity as he wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly before US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's meetings in Kyiv.

(With inputs from AP)

(Image: AP)