BERLIN, December 18. /TASS/. The Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, US General Tod Wolters, suggested that the alliance should expand military presence in Bulgaria and Romania to reinforce the eastern flank in response to Russia’s alleged escalation near Ukraine’s border, Spiegel reported on Saturday, citing sources.
The general made the proposal in a secret video link with the representatives of NATO partner nations, the report said. He said that would be similar to NATO’s earlier expansion of presence in the Baltic states and Poland as part of Enhanced Forward Presence mission. Wolters said the move would signal to Moscow that NATO is ready to respond Russian actions near Ukraine’s borders, according to Spiegel.
Wolters has been assigned the task of conceiving a possible strategy in the event that Russia will invade Ukraine, the reports said. One of his other proposals is to increase satellite surveillance of the possible conflict area, Spiegel reported.
There has been a flurry of statements in the West and Kiev lately that Russia could invade Ukraine. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said they were unsubstantiated escalation and that Russia doesn’t threaten anyone. At the same time, he didn’t rule out provocations to corroborate these Western statements and warned that the use of force to resolve the crisis in southeastern Ukraine will have serious consequences.