The meeting of the leaders of the United States, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden should be devoted primarily to ways to deter “Russian aggression”, says an employee of the U.S. Navy on the website War on the Rocks. According to the author, five Northern European countries, needs to help America “to defend the Baltic States” and to force Moscow to return to “more constructive” relations with its neighbors.
May 13 will be held in Washington the meeting of Barack Obama with the leaders of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The summit in this format will be held for the second time, and this event most relevant in light of “increasing tensions with Russia“, writes on the pages of War on the Rocks mark Sipe of the United States Navy.
“That summit was a success, the heads of the six States should thoughtfully discuss measures to further deter Russian aggression, including the methods of intimidation and interactions with each other“, – says the article.
According to Saipa, the time for the meeting selected “never better“, because recently the Russian pilots flew at low level flight over the USS Donald cook and did a barrel roll over the American plane. In addition, Sergei Lavrov, has warned Sweden that, in case of its entry into NATO Russia will have to build up our forces on the Western borders. And the government of Finland, “worrying because of its Eastern neighbor, became openly explore the possibility of joining the North Atlantic Alliance. The author also claims that Russian troopssimulated an invasion of Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland in 2015“, and the activity of Russian submarines “is comparable to the cold war“.
“So, Frank dialogue about Russia and about what can and needs to do these six countries to deter further aggression, should be Central at the summit, “says Sipe.
The author notes that the U.S. cooperation with the Northern Europe there are a number of difficulties. In particular, Denmark, Norway and Iceland are members of NATO and Sweden and Finland no, although, according to polls, public opinion in these countries more inclined to join the Alliance. However, currently, the neutrality of Sweden and Finland prevents military personnel of these countries regularly undergo training together with their American colleagues. It is also not clear whether the Stockholm and Helsinki to participate in NATO’s plans for “the protection of the Baltic Statesfrom Russia.
Currently the US military presence “can not be compared with the imposing forces of Russia” and only “reinforces the impression that the United States only temporarily concerned about the security of the region“, the article says. The author believes that a permanent and more significant U.S. military presence has, along with other measures, “to force Russia to re-calculate what it will cost the current aggressive actions“. At the same time Washington must make it clear to Moscow that the alignment may be revised, “if the Russian leadership will return to a more constructive relationship with its neighbours“.
Sipe is sure that the five Nordic States are simply obliged to participate in the “intimidation” of Russia, because it is “confidence” not only to them but to the entire region.
The contributions of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Finland can be quite substantial: together, they offer an 84-thousand armed forces and similar military equipment, as a rule, American-style. However, it remains unclear how much they are willing to participate in “conflict“, even though “the growing threat from Russia concerns them all, “writes War on the Rocks.
