Eva Deschamps / March 11, 2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin asked his Defense Minister on Friday to propose military redeployments on Russia's western border in response to NATO's redeployments in Eastern Europe.
Regarding the strengthening of our western borders because of the actions adopted by Nato countries (...) this needs to be studied, I ask you to prepare a report for me, he told his Defense Minister Sergei Shugu at a televised meeting of his Security Council.
Nato countries have deployed thousands of troops in Central and Eastern Europe in response to Russia's military intervention in Ukraine in order to strengthen their eastern flank, while Russia has called for a withdrawal from the Alliance.
Among the Nato countries, Poland and the three Baltic states share borders with Russia. Ukraine borders several others: Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. One of the Russian justifications for the offensive in Ukraine is the fear of seeing its neighbor join the Alliance, whose successive enlargements are seen in Moscow as an existential threat.