Russias Military Encounters Risk Clash in Europe: Report

Russia is engaged in dangerous brinkmanship toward NATO and Nordic nations in its military moves, with almost 40 incidents of incursions and close encounters since March, according to a European security research group.

The European Leadership Network said the incidents present a highly disturbing picture of violations of national airspace, emergency air-defense scrambles, narrowly avoided mid-air collisions, close encounters at sea and other dangerous actions on a regular basis over a wide area.

Perpetuating a volatile standoff between a nuclear-armed state and a nuclear-armed alliance and its partners is risky at best, the group said in the report released today. It could prove catastrophic at worst.

The intensity and gravity of incidents involving Russian and NATO militaries and security agencies have visibly increased since Russias annexation of Crimea, according to the London-based group, which includes former European defense and foreign ministers.

Even though direct military confrontation has been avoided so far, the mix of more aggressive Russian posturing and the readiness of Western forces to show resolve increases the risk of unintended escalation and the danger of losing control over events, the group said.

The report adds to the debate about whether President Vladimir Putin is flexing Russias military muscle to test the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the U.S.-European defense alliance, or simply increasing readiness amid the tensions that followed Putins annexation of Crimea and support of separatists in Ukraine.

The increased number and gravity of incidents involving NATO and Nordic nations suggests that Russian forces have been authorized and encouraged to act more aggressively, the report concludes.

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said over the weekend that the U.S. and its allies are to blame for tensions with Russia because they engaged in triumphalism after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The world is on the brink of a new Cold War. Some are even saying that its already begun, Gorbachev said at an event in Berlin marking the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, according to the Associated Press.

NATOs top military officer, Air Force General Philip Breedlove, told reporters last week that Russia is using a larger, more complex formation of aircraft with a little bit more provocative flight path in recent weeks.

See the rest here:
Russias Military Encounters Risk Clash in Europe: Report