'Several Thousand Soldiers From US, NATO' to Be Deployed in Poland

Several thousand of US and NATO troops will be deployed in Poland as NATO is expanding its military presence on the alliance's eastern flank, Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz said Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A minimum rotation term for the NATO soldiers to be deployed will amount to six months, while the US troops will stay for longer periods, according to the minister.

"We can say that in Poland there will be several thousand soldiers from the United States and NATO, it is quantitatively greater than ‘battalion’ in the Polish structure," Macierewicz told Polskie Radio.

Following the NATO defense ministers' summit held last month, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the alliance had agreed to deploy four multinational battalions to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland with some 800-1,200 troops in each unit. The units' command is expected to be headquartered in Poland. The decision is expected to be agreed on at the upcoming Warsaw summit, due to take place on July 8-9.