US to Deploy Tanks to Baltic States in Largest Such Deployment Since Cold War

The US Armed Forces will deploy tanks this week to the Baltic states bordering Russia in what appears to be the largest such deployment in eastern Europe since the Cold War, The Wall Street Journal reported.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to the newspaper's Monday report, some of the US M1A2 Abrams main battle tanks, which participated in the joint US-Polish drills in Northern Poland, will be sent to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, where they will be deployed until a new NATO "deterrent force" becomes operational in spring.

Such step is aiming to reassure US commitment to provide its EU allies with security, the newspaper said.

Earlier in January, almost 1,000 US soldiers and shipments of the equipment for the US tank brigade have arrived in Poland on a mission to build up region's defense capabilities.

In 2016, NATO increased its military presence on the border with Russia. NATO has been building up its presence and defense capabilities in Eastern Europe, concentrating on the three Baltic States and Poland, with each expected to receive additional battalions starting this year.

Moscow has repeatedly stated Russia does not pose a threat to Europe, and called the amassing of troops and military equipment on its borders provocative act that can destabilize the region and the world.