NATO exercises near the border with Russia reflect the alliance’s preparations for a large-scale military conflict, Russia’s chief military officer said in remarks published Dec. 18.
The chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, said at the Dec. 17 meeting with foreign military attaches that NATO’s activities have heightened tensions and reduced security along the Russian border.
Asked if the Russian military sees a potential threat of war, Gerasimov said that Moscow doesn’t see “any preconditions for a large-scale war.”
He added, however, that Western pressure on Russia could trigger “crisis situations” that may spin out of control and provoke a military conflict.
Gerasimov charged that the scenarios of the alliance’s drills in eastern Europe “point at NATO’s deliberate preparation for its troops’ involvement in a large-scale military conflict.”
Russia-West ties have sunk to their lowest levels since Cold War times following Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea. Moscow has repeatedly voiced concern over the deployment of NATO forces in the Baltics and the alliance’s maneuvers near Russia’s western border.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted Dec. 18 that the “continuing expansion of NATO’s military infrastructure toward our borders raises concern.” AP
Pentagon: Screenings show no new threats after Navy shooting
The Defense Department has completed security screenings of all Saudi Arabian students in the U.S. for military training and found no indications of any immediate threats, the Pentagon said Dec. 19, nearly two weeks after a Saudi student killed three people and injured eight others at a Florida Navy base.
Garry Reid, the director for defense intelligence, told reporters that the Pentagon will expand its role in vetting international students who come into the country for military training.
The Pentagon ordered a broad review of the screening procedures in response to the recent deadly shooting at Naval Air Station Pensacola by a Saudi aviation student. AP