Russia And The US Expand Forces In Europe And Syria

Washington: The US military has announced it would deploy rotations of US-based armoured brigade combat teams to Europe, part of a wider effort to counter what the US sees as Russian aggression on the continent. At the same time, analysis suggests that rather than the partial withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria, announced by Russian president Vladimir Putin in mid-March, Moscow has in fact shipped more equipment and supplies to Syria than it has brought back in the same period.

The US teams deployed in Europe will be on nine-month rotations starting in February 2017, and will conduct military exercises across Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary, according to a statement from US European Command on . Their presence in Europe will be continuous and bring the total US Army presence on the continent to three fully manned brigades, the military said.

The decision means US allies will "see a more frequent presence of an armoured brigade with more modernised equipment in their countries," said General Philip Breedlove, commander of US European Command.
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The US has budgeted to sharply boost military training and exercises aimed at reassuring European countries concerned about Russia, which seized Ukraine's Crimean peninsula in 2014 and has worried NATO allies with its strategic bomber flights, and which has seemingly been quietly building its forces in Syria.

The movements of a number of Russian ships- while only a partial snapshot - suggest Russia is working intensively to maintain its military infrastructure in Syria and to supply the Syrian army so that it can scale up again swiftly if need be.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/russia-and-the-us-expand-forces-in-europe-and-syria-20160330-gnulqy.html#ixzz44SXK5ukX