US deploys 3,000 additional troops to bolster Nato forces in Europe

Moscow – Russia has a stake in crises around the world from Ukraine to Syria, Sudan and Mali and that is reflected in the active role it takes at the UN Security Council on issues both big and small, contrasting with the relative detachment of the United States.

The paradox is that, by at least one measure, the former superpower’s role at the Security Council is outsized: Moscow does not carry much weight in the global economy, and its financial contribution to the United Nations is far below that of Washington, the European Union or China.

“Russia’s greatest strength is that it feels no shame about blowing up UN diplomacy when it wants to,” says Richard Gowan, a UN specialist at the International Crisis Group think tank in New York.

“In contrast to China, which still tries to avoid getting into big fights in New York, Russia will use its veto at the Security Council even when it offends most other UN members,” he told AFP.

However, more opposition has been building against Russia and its role under the UN will further be under doubt as Western powers have been engaged in intense diplomatic efforts, coupled with the threat of sanctions to Kremlin to deter what they fear to be a looming invasion of ex-Soviet Ukraine while leaders of France and Germany flagged trips to Moscow to address Western fears of an invasion of Ukraine.

The Soviet Union, as a member of the victorious Allied Forces in World War II, was made a permanent member of the Security Council in 1945. Russia kept the seat after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

Recently, Moscow was unable to prevent a Security Council meeting on growing fears that it will invade Ukraine, with 10 out of 15 countries voting in favor of the session.

In another report, Washington and its Nato allies have offered Moscow arms control and trust-building measures to defuse the threat of a new Russian offensive against Ukraine, according to documents published by El Pais on Wednesday.

The proposals, set out in letters by Nato and the United States last month in response to Russian demands, remain firm on insisting that Ukraine and any other sovereign country has a right to apply to join the alliance.

But the reported US response, posted on the Spanish daily’s website — suggests “reciprocal commitments by both the United States and Russia to refrain from deploying offensive ground-launched missile systems and permanent forces with a combat mission in the territory of Ukraine”.

Both the US and Nato documents urge Russia to restore diplomatic ties with the alliance and to renew and renegotiate nuclear missile control treaties with the United States.

Moscow is urged to re-engage with the Nato-Russia council, a diplomatic body “offering dialogue and partnership in place of conflict and distrust”.

A Nato official refused to confirm the text, saying: “We never comment on alleged leaks.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was aware of the report but added: “We didn’t publish anything, and I don’t want to comment on this.”

But later, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said the El Pais report accurately described the US position.

“I have seen nothing to suggest these documents are not authentic,” he said, while insisting that Washington did not leak them.

Deployment of troops

Moreover, the United States deployed several thousand troops to bolster Nato forces in eastern Europe after Russia refusing to pull back 100,000 troops poised on Ukraine’s borders, 1,000 US soldiers in Germany are being sent to Romania, and another 2,000 stationed in the United States are being flown to Germany and Poland. The deployment is in addition to the 8,500 troops already on alert to deploy to Europe if needed.

US President Joe Biden said after the deployments “as long as (President Vladimir Putin) is acting aggressively, we are going to make sure we reassure our Nato allies in eastern Europe that we’re there.”