NATO Holds Military Maneuvers In Poland, Near Lithuanian Border
NATO has held its first war games focused on defending a land corridor along the Polish-Lithuanian border sandwiched between Russia's Kaliningrad exclave and Kremlin's close ally, Belarus.
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said on June 19 that the drills sent a "strong message of NATO readiness and commitment to ensure security of the region."
More than 1,500 troops from the United States, Poland, Britain, Lithuania, and Croatia took part in the exercises on June 17-18.
Fears that Russia could attempt an attack on the Suwalki Gap land corridor surged after Moscow's 2014 illegal annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, a move that sent East-West relations to their lowest point since the Cold War.
The drills were held days after Russia, Belarus, and Serbia held joint military exercises near the Belarusian border with Poland.
On June 19, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis, and Canada's Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan launched the Canadian-led NATO battalion in Latvia.
Based on reporting by AFP, Reuters, and zerohedge.com
Here is today's map of the latest situation in the Donbas conflict zone, according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry:
Ukrainian President Poroshenko Leaves For Washington
President Petro Poroshenko has left Ukraine for a working visit to the United States, his press secretary says.
Svyatoslav Tseholko made the announcement in a message on Twitter on June 19, after media reported that Poroshenko would meet with U.S. President Donald Trump this week for their first face-to-face meeting.
Poroshenko's trip to Washington comes days before Trump's expected meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time at the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, on July 7-8.
It also follows reports that the conflict between Ukrainian armed forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine is intensifying despite a peace deal known as the Minsk accord.
A United Nations report on June 13 said at least 10,090 people, including 2,777 civilians, have been killed during the conflict since it began in April 2014.