Russian President Putin wants to reduce NATO in Eastern Europe, but the opposite is true: NATO is strengthening its eastern flank

To be clear, it is not the intention that the additional forces that NATO member states are now sending to the Baltic states, Poland or Romania are taking action against Russian forces that would have launched an attack on Ukraine. Ukraine is not a member of NATO, and therefore cannot invoke the important Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty: an attack on one of the member states is an attack on the Alliance, and the alliance is obligated to help the attacked country to defend. Concretely, this means that Ukraine will be on its own in the event of a Russian attack.

But Ukraine borders NATO countries such as Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania. The armed conflict on the territory of Ukraine can spread to those neighboring countries. Russia borders the three Baltic states – as well as Poland via the Kaliningrad enclave. Belarus, a powerful ally of Moscow, borders Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Adequate limits and risks of what is possible Extension and diffusionEffects and rising tensions. The additional assets and forces that NATO is sending to its eastern side are intended to serve as deterrence and as defensive support for the countries concerned.