NATO and the United States are switching their defence doctrine from assurance to deterrence in Eastern Europe in response to a "resurgent and aggressive Russia", the top US general in Europe said Thursday.
The comments by General Philip Breedlove in the Latvian capital Riga come a day after the Pentagon said it would begin continuous rotations of an additional armoured brigade of about 4,200 troops in Eastern Europe beginning in early 2017."We are prepared to fight and win if we have to... our focus will expand from assurance to deterrence, including measures that vastly improve our overall readiness," Breedlove said following talks with Baltic region NATO commanders."To the east and north we face a resurgent and aggressive Russia, and as we have continued to witness these last two years, Russia continues to seek to extend its influence on its periphery and beyond." more
