US to bolster military support to Poland, Baltic

Washington (AFP) - The United States plans to expand military cooperation with Poland and Baltic states to show "support" for its allies after Russia's intervention in Ukraine, Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel said Wednesday.

"This morning the Defense Department is pursuing measures to support our allies," including expanded aviation training in Poland and increasing the US role in NATO's air policing mission over Baltic countries, Hagel told lawmakers.

NATO's top commander and head of the US European Command, General Philip Breedlove, also planned to confer with Central and Eastern European defense chiefs, Hagel said.

"This is a time for wise, steady, and firm leadership," Hagel told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"It is a time for all of us to stand with the Ukrainian people in support of their territorial integrity and sovereignty, and their right to have a government that fulfills the aspirations of its people."

At the same hearing, General Martin Dempsey, the US military's top-ranking officer, said he had spoken to his Russian counterpart, General Valery Gerasimov earlier Wednesday, urging "restraint."

"I conveyed to him the degree to which Russia’s territorial aggression has been repudiated globally. I urged continued restraint in the days ahead, in order to preserve room for a diplomatic solution," the general said.

Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he had also spoken this week to military chiefs in the Baltics and in Central and Eastern Europe.

"Understandably, they are concerned. They seek our assurance for their security," he said.

"During our conversations we committed to developing options to provide those assurances and to deter further Russian aggression," the four-star general said.

Leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia said Tuesday they were "shocked" by Russia's actions in Ukraine, saying it resembled Soviet crackdowns in their countries during the Cold War.

NATO held rare emergency meetings this week after Poland requested "article 4" consultations in light of the crisis in Ukraine, where pro-Russian forces have taken de facto control over the Crimean peninsula.

Under article 4 of the alliance treaty, any NATO member can request consultations when they believe their territorial integrity, political independence or security are threatened.

The United States has a small team of about 10 airmen stationed in Poland to support military training efforts while NATO has been conducting air patrols over the skies of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania for ten years.

The responsibility for the air patrols rotates every four months and the United States recently took over from Belgium in January.

The United States already has suspended all military cooperation with Russia in protest over events in Ukraine, calling off planned exercises, training and exchanges.