Ukraine conflict: US tanks in Balti

Ukraine conflict: US tanks in Baltics as Nato drills start
US tanks and fighting vehicles started arriving in Riga on Monday
Hundreds of US military vehicles have arrived in the Baltic states and are to stay in Europe, in a mission to reassure Nato allies unsettled by Russia's actions in Ukraine.
The shipment coincides with the deployment of a US infantry division and Nato navy drills in the Black Sea.
Although a ceasefire is in place in Ukraine, the conflict has heightened distrust between Russia and the West.
Russia said on Tuesday it was pulling out of a European arms control pact.
'Escalating confrontation'
The Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty, signed in 1990 as the Cold War was coming to an end, was originally aimed at limiting the numbers of tanks, combat aircraft and heavy artillery between the Atlantic Ocean and the Ural mountains in Russia.
Russia had already suspended involvement in 2007, and the foreign ministry in Moscow said the practical work of the treaty's consultative group in Vienna had been almost entirely wound down.
But the announcement came within hours of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov launching an attack on the European Union.
The Russian foreign minister singled out Donald Tusk, head of the European Council, for criticism
"EU bureaucrats in Brussels are intentionally escalating confrontation between Russia and the EU," he said, complaining that they were trying to postpone the political terms of the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine.
He also singled out European Council President Donald Tusk, accusing him of apologising to US President Barack Obama for the EU not acting as swiftly against Russia as the US.
The former Polish prime minister said in Washington that if the EU and US were united they would be able to "put a stop to the aggressive policy of Russia against her neighbours".
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Monday night that government forces had withdrawn most of their rocket and heavy artillery systems, while pro-Russian rebels had also "withdrawn a significant amount".
However, there is widespread concern among the governments of the Baltic states at Russia's involvement in eastern Ukraine.
The Kremlin says its forces have not been directly involved in combat, but its denials have been rejected by Ukraine, the West and independent experts.
Italian ships joined the seven-nation Nato exercises in the Black Sea
UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said on Tuesday that President Vladimir Putin's actions "fundamentally undermine the security of sovereign nations of Eastern Europe".
Lithuania is bringing back conscription and President Dalia Grybauskaite told the BBC last week that the threats to her country's security were "very real". She spoke of increased Russian military activity in the Baltic Sea and across the border in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.
Russian soldiers also took part in drills in the Pskov region that borders Estonia and Latvia last month. And last September an Estonian security service official was seized by Russian agents and taken to Moscow.
Black Sea manoeuvres
A US military official told the BBC that some 250 heavy vehicles, out of a total of 750 vehicles, were arriving in the Latvian capital, Riga, and in northern Germany, and would be "pre-positioned for deployment so we can more quickly react to crises".
The hardware would be based in the Baltics and Poland for the 90-day Nato training exercise, but would then be spread throughout Europe in "controlled storage".
Arrangements still had to be made with host nations, he said.
A Nato naval exercise was also under way in the Black Sea on Tuesday, involving seven members of the Western alliance including Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey.
Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine a year ago has alarmed Nato. Last week Russia began military exercises in several southern areas, including Crimea and the pro-Russian breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia.

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Konflik Ukraina: US tank di Baltik sebagai Nato latihan awal US tank dan kendaraan tempur mulai tiba di Riga pada hari SeninRatusan kendaraan militer AS telah tiba di kawasan negara Baltik dan yang tinggal di Eropa, di sebuah misi untuk meyakinkan sekutu Nato cocok berduet dengan Rusia tindakan di Ukraina.Pengiriman bertepatan dengan penyebaran Divisi Infanteri AS dan Nato latihan angkatan laut di laut hitam.Meskipun gencatan senjata di tempat di Ukraina, konflik telah meningkat ketidakpercayaan antara Rusia dan Barat.Rusia mengatakan pada hari Selasa ini menarik dari sebuah Pakta kontrol lengan Eropa.'Meningkat konfrontasi'Angkatan bersenjata konvensional di Eropa (CFE) Perjanjian, yang ditandatangani pada 1990 sebagai perang dingin datang berakhir, pada mulanya bertujuan membatasi jumlah tank, pesawat tempur dan artileri berat antara Samudra Atlantik dan pergunungan Ural di Rusia.Rusia telah sudah ditangguhkan keterlibatan pada tahun 2007, dan Kementerian luar negeri di Moskow mengatakan pekerjaan praktis kelompok konsultatif perjanjian di Wina telah hampir seluruhnya luka.Tapi pengumuman datang dalam jam Menteri Luar Negeri Rusia Sergei Lavrov meluncurkan serangan terhadap Uni Eropa. Menteri Luar Negeri Rusia dipilih Donald Tusk, Ketua Dewan Eropa, kritik"EU birokrat di Brussels sengaja meningkat konfrontasi antara Rusia dan Uni Eropa," katanya, mengeluh bahwa mereka mencoba untuk menunda persyaratan politik gencatan senjata di Timur Ukraina.Dia juga dipilih Presiden Dewan Eropa Donald Tusk, menuduhnya meminta maaf untuk Presiden AS Barack Obama untuk Uni Eropa tidak bertindak sebagai cepat terhadap Rusia sebagai Amerika Serikat.Mantan Perdana Menteri Polandia mengatakan di Washington bahwa jika EU dan AS bersatu mereka akan mampu "menghentikan kebijakan agresif Rusia terhadap tetangga-tetangga".Sementara itu, Presiden Ukraina Petro Poroshenko mengatakan pada hari Senin malam bahwa pasukan pemerintah telah ditarik pemberontakan kebanyakan mereka roket dan artileri berat sistem, sementara Pro-Rusia telah juga "ditarik jumlah yang signifikan".Namun, ada kekhawatiran yang meluas di antara pemerintah negara-negara Baltik di Rusia keterlibatan dalam Timur Ukraina.Kremlin mengatakan pasukannya telah tidak secara langsung terlibat dalam pertempuran, tetapi penyangkalan yang telah ditolak oleh Ukraina, Barat dan ahli independen. Kapal-kapal Italia bergabung tujuh-negara Nato latihan di laut hitamUK menteri luar negeri Philip Hammond mengatakan Selasa bahwa tindakan Presiden Vladimir Putin "secara mendasar meruntuhkan keamanan negara-negara berdaulat Eropa Timur".Lithuania adalah membawa kembali wajib militer dan Presiden Dalia Grybauskaite kepada BBC pekan lalu bahwa ancaman terhadap keamanan negara-nya adalah "sangat nyata". Dia berbicara tentang peningkatan aktivitas militer Rusia di Laut Baltik dan melintasi perbatasan di daerah kantong Rusia Kaliningrad.Tentara-tentara Rusia juga mengambil bagian dalam latihan di wilayah Pskov yang berbatasan Estonia dan Latvia bulan lalu. Dan September lalu resmi layanan keamanan Estonia disita oleh agen Rusia dan dibawa ke Moskow.Manuver laut hitamPejabat militer AS mengatakan kepada BBC bahwa beberapa kendaraan berat 250, dari total 750 kendaraan, yang tiba di ibukota Latvia Riga, dan Jerman Utara, dan akan menjadi "pra-diposisikan untuk penyebaran sehingga kita dapat lebih cepat bereaksi terhadap krisis".Hardware berbasis di Baltik dan Polandia untuk 90-hari Nato latihan, tetapi akan menjadi tersebar di seluruh Eropah dalam "Penyimpanan dikontrol".Pengaturan masih harus dilakukan dengan negara-negara tuan rumah, katanya.Nato latihan angkatan laut itu juga di laut hitam pada hari Selasa, melibatkan tujuh anggota Aliansi Barat termasuk Bulgaria, Rumania dan Turki.Rusia aneksasi Semenanjung Krimea dari Ukraina tahun lalu telah khawatir Nato. Minggu terakhir Rusia mulai latihan militer di beberapa daerah Selatan, termasuk Krimea dan Pro-Rusia Georgia wilayah separatis Abkhazia.