NATO countries sent thousands of troops to Central and Eastern Europe in response to the Russian military intervention in Ukraine to bolster their eastern flank as Russia instead demanded to withdraw from the Alliance.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday asked his defense minister to offer him a redeployment of troops on Russia’s western border in response to NATO’s actions in Eastern Europe.
“As for the strengthening of our western borders due to the actions taken by the NATO countries (…), this needs to be studied, I ask you to prepare a report for me,” he told his minister Sergei Shoigu during a televised address. meeting of its Security Council.
NATO expansion perceived in Moscow as a threat
NATO countries sent thousands of troops to Central and Eastern Europe in response to the Russian military intervention in Ukraine to bolster their eastern flank as Russia instead demanded to withdraw from the Alliance.
Among NATO countries, Poland and the three Baltic countries share borders with Russia. Ukraine, for its part, shares borders with several others: Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia.
One of Russia’s justifications for an offensive in Ukraine is the fear of its neighbor joining the Alliance, the progressive expansion of which is seen in Moscow as an existential threat.