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21:32 11.03.2017(updated 21:43 11.03.2017) Get short URL

The report, which contains chapters written byformer NATO commanders James Stavridis and Philip Breedlove, recommends that NATO extend its naval presence inthe North Atlantic too.

Breedlove expressed concern that Russia has developed "offensive long-range, high-precision capabilities and is building high-end maritime capabilities that could deny NATO members freedom ofmaneuver atsea," Stars and Stripes reported.

"As we look tothe future we need tothink more broadly and tore-emphasize the maritime domain. NATO must put the North Atlantic Ocean back onits agenda. We must have command ofthe sea," Breedlove wrote.

Breedlove, a four-star United States Air Force General who retired asSupreme Allied Commander ofNATO forces inEurope last year, is a known war hawk. He has previously called forNATO toincrease its military presence inEurope and forthe US to supply lethal weapons toKiev touse ineastern Ukraine.

Nikolai Topornin, an associate professor ofEuropean Law atthe Russian Foreign Ministry's Moscow State Institute ofInternational Relations, told Radio Sputnik that the latest report is another attempt towhip upanti-Russian hysteria withthe aim ofincreasing NATO's naval presence.

"The man has simply set himself the task oftelling everyone that Russia was violating some kind ofstrategic standards, is strengthening its military presence, including naval and may constitute some kind ofthreat," Topornin told Radio Sputnik.

An increased naval presence inthe North Atlantic Ocean would add toNATO's increased land presence atRussia's western borders.

In January, the US transferred its largest contingent oftroops and military equipment toEastern Europe sincethe end ofthe Cold War.

In addition, onFebruary 16 NATO defense chiefs approved the intensification oftraining exercises and drills inthe Black Sea and greater co-ordination betweennational navies and the permanent NATO task force inthe region.

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'We Must Have Control of the Sea': Ex-NATO Chiefs Urge North Atlantic Build-Up - Sputnik International