NATO Struggles With New Defense Stance as U.S. Raises Pressure

By James G. Neuger and Gopal Ratnam Jun 3, 2014 11:50 AM ET

NATO defense ministers struggled to find a response to Russia’s Ukraine incursion, hemmed in by financial constraints, U.S. demands that Europe raise defense spending and a desire not to provoke the Kremlin.

“I am troubled that many nations appear content for their defense spending to continue declining,” U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel told his counterparts from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s 28 member states in Brussels today, according to an e-mailed text of his comments.

NATO is preparing a Sept. 4-5 summit in Wales as it grapples with differences on how to reassure its eastern members and prepares to draw down its Afghanistan mission by the end of this year.

The alliance is divided with Poland and the three Baltic states, all of which share borders with Russia, seeking a bigger NATO military presence on their territory. Germany and France are leading opposition to any swift moves to create permanent bases in former Soviet satellites. NATO has beefed up Baltic air policing, yet much military assistance to the alliance’s eastern flank has been bilateral.

The U.S. in April deployed 600 paratroopers for that it termed “training rotations” in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. It also sent F-16 warplanes and crews to Poland to “provide a persistent presence” in the country and training for Poland’s air force, a U.S. government statement said.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-03/nato-struggles-with-new-defense-stance-as-u-s-raises-pressure.html