REUTERS
U.S. President Barack Obama plans to substantially increase the deployment of heavy weapons, armored vehicles and other equipment to NATO countries in Central and Eastern Europe, a move that administration officials said was aimed at deterring Russia from further aggression in the region, according to The New York Times.
The White House plans to pay for the additional weapons and equipment with a budget request of more than $3.4 billion for military spending in Europe in 2017, several officials said Monday, more than quadrupling the current budget of $789 million. The weapons and equipment will be used by American and NATO forces, ensuring that the alliance can maintain a full armored combat brigade in the region at all times, The New York Times wrote.
Administration officials said the additional NATO forces were calculated to send a signal to Russian President Vladimir Putin that the West remained deeply suspicious of his motives in the region.
Read alsoNATO looks to combat Russia's "information weapon" - Reuters"This is not a response to something that happened last Tuesday," a senior administration official said. "This is a longer-term response to a changed security environment in Europe. This reflects a new situation, where Russia has become a more difficult actor."
As UNIAN reported earlier, on November 25, 2015, U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law S. 1356, the revised National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016, which authorized, among other things, $300 million assistance for Ukraine.