U.S. won't let Russia 'drag us back to the past': Pentagon chief

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter in Washington June 17, 2015.

Reuters/Carlos Barria

The United States and its allies won't let Russia "drag us back to the past", U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said in an address in Berlin on Monday, as he accused Moscow of trying to re-create a Soviet-era sphere of influence.

Russia's intervention in Ukraine has put NATO allies in eastern Europe on edge and triggered a series of military moves by the NATO alliance, including an acceleration of exercises and the creation of a NATO rapid response force.

Carter, who will view components of that NATO force later on Monday, said the alliance would keep the door open to an improved relationship with Russia but said flatly: "It's up to the Kremlin to decide."


"We do not seek a cold, let alone a hot war with Russia. We do not seek to make Russia an enemy," Carter said. "But make no mistake: we will defend our allies, the rules-based international order, and the positive future it affords us all."

Carter said on Sunday the United States and NATO were preparing militarily for the prospect that their rift with Russia could even outlast President Vladimir Putin.

COLD WAR PLAYBOOK

During his trip this week, Carter will climb aboard a U.S. warship in Estonia fresh from Baltic Sea drills. In Brussels, he will meet NATO defense chiefs, and could offer more details on plans to pre-position heavy military equipment, officials say.

Moscow has decried the new steps by NATO and threatened to strengthen its own forces and to add more than 40 intercontinental ballistic missiles to its nuclear
arsenal this year.

U.S. officials say Ukraine has illustrated the importance of being able to counter "hybrid warfare," the blend of unidentified troops, propaganda and economic pressure that the West says Russia has used there.

NATO's historic focus had been the conventional threats of the Cold War, which ended in 1991. But Carter said NATO "will not rely on the Cold War playbook", citing instead a combination of military and non-military tools, including sanctions.

He encouraged Europe to keep up its sanctions -- which he called the best tool -- for as long as it takes to change Russia's calculus.

"The United States will not let Russia drag us back to the past," he said.
The United States has refused to provide lethal arms to Ukraine, worried that would only escalate the conflict. Carter at one point said "we've provided weapons to Ukraine" but his spokesman, Brent Colburn, said the secretary misspoke.

Turning his attention to Germany, Carter commended Germany's leadership during the Ukraine crisis. He also sought to encourage a stronger German military role globally. Still, he called for more defense spending "to ensure that Germany's defense investments match Germany's leadership role."

Source: Reuters

Pentagon poised to store heavy weapons in Baltic and Eastern Europe - NYT

An aerial view of the Pentagon building in Washington, June 15, 2005, with the Potomac river in the foreground.

The Pentagon is poised to store battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and other heavy weapons for as many as 5,000 troops in several Baltic and Eastern European countries, to deter any possible further Russian aggression in Europe, the New York Times reported on Saturday.

Citing U.S. and allied officials, the newspaper said that if approved the proposal would mark the first time since the Cold War that Washington has stationed heavy military equipment in the newer NATO member states in Eastern Europe that were once part of the Soviet sphere of influence.

The proposal, which seeks to reassure European allies in the wake of Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea in March 2014, is expected to be approved by U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter and the White House before a NATO defense ministers' meeting in Brussels this month, the paper said, quoting senior officials.

Asked about the article, a Pentagon spokesman said no decision had been made about the equipment.

"Over the last few years, the United States military has increased the prepositioning of equipment for training and exercises with our NATO Allies and Partners," Colonel Steve Warren said in a statement.

"The U.S. military continues to review the best location to store these materials in consultation with our allies. At this time, we have made no decision about if or when to move to this equipment," he said.

The Times said that as it stood now, the proposal envisaged that "a company's worth of equipment - enough for about 150 soldiers - would be stored in each of the three Baltic nations: Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Enough for a company or possibly a battalion — about 750 soldiers - would be located in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and possibly Hungary." — Reuters