NATO’s largest exercise tells Russia to keep its hands off alliance – Lithuanian ambassador

NATO is holding its largest exercise since the Cold War. Its aim is to send a message to Russia to keep its hands off NATO territory, Lithuanian Ambassador to NATO Deividas Matulionis has said. 

“90,000 troops on exercise is a record number. They are training all over the alliance, across the ocean – from the United States to Europe and in Europe itself,” said Admiral Rob Bauer, chair of the NATO Military Committee.

Steadfast Defender, the largest NATO exercise since 1988, started at the end of January and will continue until the end of May. All members of the alliance, as well as Sweden, are taking part in the exercise.

“The aim of the exercise is to test NATO’s Article 5, to test how to move forces quickly across the Atlantic Ocean to the European continent, as well as how to move forces from Western Europe quickly to Eastern and Central Europe,” Lithuanian Ambassador to NATO Deividas Matulionis told LRT RADIO.

The exercise is aimed at deterring possible aggression by an almost equal adversary, the alliance said in a statement. However, it does not mention Russia or any other country in particular.

“Exercises never uses the notion of real countries, so I cannot say that it is against Russia. This is a test of preparedness against an imaginary enemy,” Matulionis said.

“But we see who is on the other side of the border and what Russia’s policy is at the moment. So, indirectly, it is aimed at sending a certain strategic message to Russia to keep its hands off the alliance’s territory,” he added.

Focus on Suwalki

In Lithuania, the most active training is planned for May. Then, around 3,000 troops with military equipment will be redeployed from Germany to Lithuania, according to Ignas Stankus, a representative of the Strategic Communications Department of the Lithuanian Armed Forces.

“It’s a training exercise on how to redeploy thousands of troops from Germany to Lithuania with heavy military equipment. Around 3,000 troops will be redeployed from Germany to Lithuania by different routes – land, sea, and air,” he said.

According to the Lithuanian ambassador to NATO, the exercise will also focus on the Suwalki Gap, a land strip of around 100 kilometres on the Lithuanian-Polish border that is wedged between the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad on the west and Belarus on the east.

“The Suwalki Gap is already very much in the alliance’s policy and is not ignored. Everyone is well aware that there is a certain weakness here,” Matulionis said.

“At the same time, we are very much looking forward to Sweden joining NATO. Accordingly, this will strengthen the overall situation in the Baltic Sea region. Kaliningrad, as a Russian exclave, will become more vulnerable. This will give us a much broader range of options, both for defending the territory and for redeploying forces,” he stressed.

Lithuanian Armed Forces will also host national exercises in April and Mary along with the major NATO exercise.