RT: NATO starts air drills close to Ukraine’s borders . . . and I’ll huff and I’ll puff . . . :)
NATO has begun wargames in Poland as recently dispatched US jets are set to take part in the exercises. Poor weather has delayed naval maneuvers in the Black Sea, with the US saying both drills were planned before the outbreak of unrest in Ukraine.
The air drills began on Tuesday at the Lask Air Base in central Poland. Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski was present as the exercises commenced, standing by as four Polish F-16s lifted off. A US Hercules transport plane landed with support staff, while at least 12 US F-16 fighter jets and 300 personnel are due to arrive by Thursday.
Komorowski, without directly naming Crimea, said “events to the east” provided a reason to protect military spending in an age of austerity.
“I hope events to the east of the Polish border, which is also NATO’s border, will encourage tough decisions regarding Polish security,” Reuters cites him as saying.
The decision to deploy the US jets followed a phone conversation between US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and his Polish counterpart Tomasz Siemoniak on Sunday. Washington insisted the air exercise was planned long in advance, though Siemoniak maintains the exercise was to have been smaller, only involving transport aircraft.
Following recent events in Crimea, however, Siemoniak asked the Pentagon to send fighter jets instead.
