NATO to Deploy 4,000 Troops in Baltic Region by May 2017

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) plans to station four battalions totaling 4,000 troops in the Baltic region by May 2017, NATO Military Committee Chairman Petr Pavel said on Sunday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The statement was made following the meeting of the NATO leaders in Croatia's Split this weekend.

"With these four battle groups, we are not talking exclusively about a training presence. This force is to serve as a deterrent and if necessary as a fighting force. The rules will be different," Pavel said cited by The Wall Street Journal adding that the deployment will be carried out by May 2017.

NATO has been boosting its military presence in Europe, particularly in Eastern European states, since the outbreak of the Ukrainian crisis, citing Russia's alleged interference in that conflict as justification for the move.

At the NATO summit in Warsaw on July 8, the Alliance's secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said that the military bloc would strengthen its presence in Eastern Europe on a rotational basis with four battalions in Poland and in the Baltic nations. The United States will lead the troops in Poland, while the United Kingdom will head the battalion in Estonia, Germany the one in Lithuania, and Canada that in Latvia.