Relations between the United States and NATO and Russia are now on a knife’s edge. It is no coincidence that Maria Zakharova, a representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated: “Russia, unlike Ukraine, has never refused dialogue and the search for diplomatic ways of resolving the conflict. We use the negotiation process until the last opportunity. In this case, everything was sold out.”
It was preceded by the announcement of US Vice President Joe Biden’s statement: “The commitment of the United States to the NATO Alliance and Article 5 is unwavering. And every NATO member knows it.”
The US diplomatic mission to NATO stated in a statement that following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, NATO doubled the combat units of US troops that regularly exercise in Bulgaria.
Only two B-52 strategic bombers flew in Bulgarian and Romanian airspace today, close enough to the Ukrainian border for Russian radar to detect them, sending a message of deterrence power.
The U.S. Army Transportation Command’s strengthening of U.S. support to its allies prompted General Van Ovost to state: “We continue to support the security and relief efforts in Ukraine. Like the DoD’s global transportation business, our ability to move cargo wherever it is needed is due to the hard work of our industry partners and the TRANSCOM team!”
Over 6,500 trucks, 143 trains, 62 cargo ships, and 1,005 transport aircraft flights were used in this context.
30 maritime patrol boats, 47 radars, over 14,400 rifles, 14 helicopters, over 1500 manpads, over 200 million bullets, 2,635 vehicles and trailers, over 2,700 anti-aircraft missiles, over 16000 soldiers, over 48,000 helmets, 318 cannons, over 11,3000 anti-tank missiles, over 70,000 anti-ballistic vests, and over 1,000,000 artillery shells were among those delivered or transferred to allied countries.
All day today, American Blackhawk and Chinook helicopters flew between the airspaces of Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece. As part of an exercise, American Blackhawk helicopters from Bulgaria landed at Kavala airport.
Everything indicates that Greece is now an integral part of US-NATO planning and a show of force, as evidenced by the posting of a video featuring the frigate “Psara” and a statement by its captain referring to the anti-submarine capabilities they practice in the context of the Dynamic Manta 2023 exercise.
