NATO has launched its first military drills in Poland—its largest since the Cold War ended and the Soviet Union dissolved more than 25 years ago.
Poland, along with its NATO partners, kicked off the two-week long Anaconda initiative, designed to check “the alliance’s ability to defend its eastern flank,” Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz said Tuesday in Warsaw.
More than 31,000 NATO soldiers from 24 countries as well as soldiers from Ukraine will take part in the exercises. Around 14,000 U.S. troops will join in, according to the Telegraph.
U.S. Army Chief of Staff Mark Milley described the American presence as one that “demonstrates that we are shoulder to shoulder with the Polish people.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, like Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent days, decried NATO’s maneuvers.
