Category Archives: NATO

NATO ships from six countries have commenced exercises off the coast of Bulgaria in the Black Sea, 500 kilometers (310 miles) from Russian-held Crimea. The training, which started Tuesday and will last a little over two weeks, comes as a Russian officials say they have the right to position nuclear weapons in the peninsula that was annexed from Ukraine last March.

"I don't know if there are nuclear weapons there now. I don't know about any plans, but in principle Russia can do it," said Mikhail Ulyanov, head of the Russian Foreign ministry's department on arms control, according to the Interfax news agency.

Ships from the United States, Canada, Italy, Romania, Turkey and Bulgaria are taking part in the maneuvers near the Bulgarian port of Varna. Exercises will include anti-aircraft and anti-submarine warfare as well as general preparedness training.

U.S. Rear Adm. Brad Williamson will lead the operation onboard U.S. guided missile cruiser USS Vicksburg.

The training and exercises we will conduct with our allies in the Black Sea prepares us to undertake any mission NATO might require to meet its obligations for collective defense,said Williamson on the alliances Maritime Commandwebsite.

This particular exercise comes at a time of heightened tensions between the alliance and Russia, which NATO accuses of assisting pro-Russian forces in the eastern Ukraine war since it began in April. While a ceasefire has been in place for almost one month since coming into force on Feb. 15, fighting between the Ukrainian military and pro-Russian forces has hardly stopped. However, news that rebels were withdrawing heavy weapons from the front has given fresh hope that the ceasefire eventually maystick.

In the face of accusations that the NATO Black Sea exercises are hostile toward Russia, NATO countered that alliance ships regularly visit the Black Sea for training.

"NATO regularly deploys ships to the Black Sea for maritime awareness and training. This scheduled deployment, given Russia's continued assertiveness, carries an additional message of reassurance to allies in the region,"a NATO official told Reuters.

However, Russias envoy to NATO, Aleksandr Grushko, previouslyhas said that Moscow would take necessary countermeasures if the alliance continued its military buildup in the region.

Since the annexation of Crimea and the war in east Ukraine, NATO has increased its activities significantlyin Eastern Europe, centered around a deployment of troops and equipment known as Operation Atlantic Resolve, across the Baltic states and down to the Black Sea.

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NATO Begins Exercises In Black Sea, As Russia Says It Can Deploy Nuclear Weapons To Crimea

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NATO naval drills start in Black Sea
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NATO naval drills start in Black Sea - Video

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany High-level NATO leaders met this week at Ramstein to consider the future of the alliances ground forces in the wake of the conflict in Ukraine and events in the Middle East and Afghanistan.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization-LANDCOM Corps Commanders Conference drew more than 140 participants from nearly every country in the 28-member alliance, including NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove.

He and Army Lt. Gen. John Nicholson Jr., the commander of NATO Allied Land Command, spoke of the broader security environment facing NATO post-Afghanistan and the challenges ground forces, in particular, must address to hone and ready a land component that could respond to an international crisis at a moments notice.

We are adapting to some of the most significant changes to the security environment here in Europe since the Cold War, Breedlove said, and I am pleased to say that NATO is adapting as rapidly as its 21st Century challenges are also evolving.

Breedlove said NATOs land forces headquarters established in 2012 at Izmir, Turkey, to ensure the interoperability of NATO ground forces is focused on matching our readiness to the environment and working with nations on contingency planning in support of NATOs readiness action force, as outlined at the pivotal NATO Wales Summit last fall. Interoperability has been a constant, if elusive, goal for the alliance since the early 1950s.

This is significant, as this planning will reduce the go-to show time needed between alerting forces and getting them to the right place at the right time, Breedlove said.

At the Wales summit in September, allied leaders approved a response plan that addresses challenges posed by Russia and threats emanating from the Middle East and North Africa.

Neither Nicholson nor Breedlove mentioned Ukraine or Russia on Tuesday. But in speaking about collective defense, Nicholson mentioned the threat of so-called hybrid warfare, which NATO officials have accused Russia of employing in Ukraine, unnerving NATOs eastern members.

NATOs land forces would be one element of any collective defense measure, including if Article 5 were invoked. Article 5 is the cornerstone of the military alliance, which commits each member to consider an armed attack against one member state to be an armed attack against them all.

Nicholson said his command is focused on our own ability to respond to the political guidance that we receive.

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NATO country leaders meet to hone response to future threats

A Turkish soldier stands guard in a Black Sea port ahead of a Nato naval exercise. Photograph: Sasa Kavic/Reuters

Natos Black Sea members Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey joined the US, Canada, Germany and Italy in a multinational naval exercise just across the water from the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia last year.

The naval rapid reaction force in the Black Sea drills consists of a US flagship, the guided missile cruiser USS Vicksburg, and ships from the six other participating states.

Nato has held a series of exercises in eastern Europe since the Russian armys move into the region to reassure members jittery about Russian intentions in the wake of the Ukraine crisis.

The training will reportedly include simulated anti-air and anti-submarine warfare exercises, as well as simulated small boat attacks and basic ship handling manoeuvres.

Russian exercises

Last week, Russias ministry of defence said its forces had begun large-scale military exercises in southern Russia and in disputed territories on Russias borders, including the Crimea region.

Relations between Russia and the West are at their most strained since the Cold War. The Ukrainian government and the West accuse Russia of directing a separatist assault in eastern Ukraine with its own troops and weapons. Russia denies those accusations.

Once a close ally of the Soviet Union, Bulgaria joined Nato in 2004 and is one of six eastern European countries that will host new command units staffed with national and Nato soldiers, that are being set up in response to the Ukraine crisis.

US training

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Nato members hold naval exercise near Crimea