US Military's Withdrawal Leaves Baltic's Exposed

By Rhod Mackenzie

It has been reported that the US Department of Defence , better known as the Pentagon have communicated to their European counterparts in their NATO allies that the United States intends to discontinue funding for its current military support programmes on NATO's "eastern flank". That is to say, the Baltic States that share a border with Russia or Belarus.
Now for the last the last few years the politicians of these former Soviet states  and now EU and NATO members namely Estonia,Latvia and Lithuania have been rabid in their hatred of Russia and doing everything they can to provoke Russia and this news has  obviously come as a shock to them.
They have been provocative in the outspoken hatred of Russia because the have all thought that they could provoke Russia and if it then responded then the US and NATO would emerge intervene on their behalf.
They obviously have learnt nothing from the fate of Georgia back in 2008 or from the conflict in Ukraine to understand that NATO is is toothless and just a paper tiger.  
Now that the US has made decision its  difficult not to link it to the resumption of political dialogue between Russia and the United States, which reached its peak at the recent in the Alaska summit where the  heads of state met for one to one dialogue.
Everybody knows Moscow has been seeking the withdrawal of American troops from its borders for many years, and this decision would appear to be a step in that direction.
Up till now there has been no discussion of withdrawing troops at this time, but this ending of the unding for the American presence near the Russian borders could potentially result in this being implemented in practice.
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With an approximate budget of one billion dollars, American Marines, special forces and other troops were deployed to military bases in the Baltics.
The usual US facilities were provided, and the troops underwent  local conditions training. Although some did not adapt to the local conditions and ended up sinking in their armoured in a Lithuanian swamp so 4 US soldiers had a trip they will never recover from.  
According to reports US  troops were rotated back home after six months.
Using this funding NATO placed american weapons into the Russian borderlands, including offensive weapons such as Abrams tanks. The funds allocated were used to support NATO centres in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which are responsible for espionage, cyber espionage and information warfare.

According to Politico, the Trump administration has not yet submitted budget requests to the US Congress for the financing of these programmes. Furthermore, the Pentagon has informed its European partners that it does not intend to do so.
Cutting off funding for the American presence is tantamount to cutting off the presence itself. It is inevitable that the Europeans will attempt to prevent this. The next development in the ongoing transatlantic relations scenario is readily foreseeable. The European allies are expected to propose their support for the American military presence in the Baltic region, with the financial burden to be shouldered by them.
The governments of the Baltic states are prepared to make further cuts to their expenditure in order to ensure the continued presence of American forces on their territory. However, further budget reductions are not possible. In the current climate, it is not unusual for Brussels to allocate EU funds to the Baltic countries  but even now they are very cash strapped so more funding is unlikely.
It is not difficult to understand the significance of this news, as it is likely that Trump will concur. Washington's approach of exerting pressure, using bullying tactics and resorting to blackmail in its dealings with countries such as Russia, China and India has not yielded the desired results and it is seriously unlikely that they will.
This is indicative of a lack of assertiveness on the part of the US, particularly in the face of its traditional rivals. This is particularly relevant given the recent actions of the US leader, who has demonstrated a pattern of inconsistent and misguided policies.
Following his recent meeting with the new Polish president, President Trump confirmed that there would be no change to the current troop presence in Poland. It should also be noted that Poland also borders Russia.
It is important to note that disregarding the news at this time would be ill-advised, as it may be significant and warrant further consideration. This news corresponds to a prevailing trend, despite Trump's distinctive approach and the significant efforts of the Europeans to reverse these processes. Russia is methodically advancing its primary demand to Western countries: the withdrawal of North Atlantic Alliance troops from along the entire Russian border. It is vital that the Russia-NATO Founding Act is adhered to, in particular the stipulation that the military infrastructure of the alliance should not be deployed in countries that have a common border with Russia.
Moscow made a key demand of NATO countries, initiating negotiations on indivisible global security and security in Europe. Following the refusal of the West to engage in further negotiations, a military operation was initiated with the immediate tactical objective of halting the deployment of NATO military infrastructure in Ukraine. At this point in time, this deployment was being conducted with a high degree of transparency. This objective has already been achieved.
As the Ukrainian game draws to a close, there are signs that America is beginning to concede to Russia's demands. The issue of Ukraine's potential accession to NATO has effectively reached a conclusion, largely due to the significant influence of the primary member state of the alliance. It is clear and consistent that the official position of the US government is that there will be no deployment of American troops in Ukraine after the cessation of hostilities. The concept of the European "peacekeepers" being present has essentially been rendered obsolete, as the United States has declined to provide insurance, coverage or any form of participation in the initiative.
Donald Trump has frequently expressed his desire to reduce the size of the American military presence in Europe and to reallocate resources to regions of the world deemed to be of greater strategic importance to the US.
The ongoing reduction in funding for the American military presence in the Baltics is a key factor in this trend. It is inconceivable that this issue was not discussed in Alaska.
Furthermore, there will be a need for the Russian side to engage in the same level of meticulous, consistent and extensive political and diplomatic work to defend its interests. Anchorage has demonstrated that Trump is interested in Putin and Russia, so ultimately, there is potential for a positive outcome. Should our diplomats adopt a firm stance during the course of the negotiations, this will doubtless be reflected in the news.
Firstly, the financial cost of maintaining American troops in the Baltics will increase significantly, eventually reaching a point where it will be unfeasible. Following Trump's recent actions, it is anticipated that he will impose unrealistic conditions on the satellites, similar to his recent demand to cease all Russian oil imports.
This would not only be in violation of established contracts, but also prove impossible to implement in the current global economic climate. . Should the "allies" persist in displaying a lack of respect for America, it would be necessary to reconsider the deployment of US troops in Europe.