A Pentagon proposal to position heavy weaponry and equipment in Eastern Europe to counter Russia’s alleged involvement in the Ukraine crisis would lead to a major and unnecessary escalation of tensions, a US military analyst says.
“This type of escalation only gets us even more involved in the whole Ukrainian situation as well which the United States can ill afford and should be working on deescalating tensions in that region rather than escalating them,” said Michael Maloof, a former senior security policy analyst at the US Department of Defense.
The Pentagon is considering deploying heavy military equipment in the Baltic states and East Europe to face a possible “Russian aggression” in the wake of the crisis in Ukraine, a report says.
On Saturday, The New York Times quoted officials as saying that the weaponry, which includes battle tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, was enough for as many as 5,000 American troops.
Since the end of the Cold War, this would be the first time that the United States is stationing heavy weaponry in the Eastern European countries, once part of the Soviet Union.
A Russian defense official said on Monday that Moscow would swiftly respond to any moves by Washington to build up military resources in Eastern Europe by fortifying its western border with more troops, tanks, planes and missile systems.
“The announcement by the Pentagon that the US will be sending heavy military equipment into Europe is really a major escalation of an already tense situation which is frankly uncalled for,” Maloof told Press TV on Monday.
“[This] would only prompt Russia to reinforce its own borders,” he added.
Ties between Washington and Moscow have reached an all-time low over the crisis in Ukraine, which began after pro-Western forces ousted the country’s president, Viktor Yanukovych, in February 2014.
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