US Set To Station Heavy Weaponry In Eastern Europe

The US might deploy "battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and other heavy weapons" to assist as many as 5,000 troops in several Baltic and eastern European countries, according to Al jazeera. 

Hence, Poland said Sunday it is negotiating with the US to park heavy American military weaponry inside its borders, part of its plan, according to voanews.

If this goes through, it would be a proposal that marks the first time since the Cold War that Washington puts up heavy military equipment in the new NATO member states in eastern Europe, that once belonged to the Soviet sphere of influence.

"Someone at the Pentagon off the record has confirmed to Al Jazeera that this is indeed an active proposal", according to Aljazeera's Daniel Lak, reporting from Washington.

"It's an incremental change from earlier policies where eastern Europe and several Baltic states were pretty much out of bounds for sending weaponry for possibly deploying troops," he said.

"It's a response to what's seen as increasing tension with Russia and also to requests by all those Baltic states for extra military assistance. They are nervous about Russia's intention along their mutual borders," Lak said.

"It's also for the first time, if it happens, since the Cold War, that heavy weaponry like this has been in Europe that was all removed from Europe during the 1990s and up to early 2000s as NATO and Russia became allies. It's a symbol perhaps that situation is changing," he added.

The proposal might be approved by US Defence Secretary Ash Carter and the White House before a NATO defence ministers' meeting takes place in Brussels this month, said senior officials.

However, no decision had been made about the equipment yet, said Pentagon.

"Over the last few years, the United States military has increased the prepositioning of equipment for training and exercises with our NATO allies and partners," Colonel Steve Warren said.

"The US military continues to review the best location to store these materials in consultation with our allies. At this time, we have made no decision about if or when to move to this equipment," he said.