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US Sends Arms to Discourage Russian Aggression

CBN

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The Pentagon is sending U.S. military equipment and heavy weaponry into six former Soviet-bloc nations to counter Russian aggression.

The force consists of 250 tanks, armored vehicles, and other military equipment.

Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter also pledged U.S. aircraft and other forces to aid a NATO rapid reaction force.

"This pre-positioned European activity includes tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and artillery," Carter said. "Estonia, as well as Lithuania, Latvia, Bulgaria, Romania and Poland have agreed to host company to battalion-sized elements of this equipment, which will be moved around the region for training and exercises."

NATO allies are worried after Russia took Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014 and continues to back anti-government rebel forces in the eastern Ukraine.

Carter said the United States is not seeking a confrontation with Russia, but it would defend U.S. allies in the region.

"We will stand up to Russia's actions and their attempts to re-establish a Soviet-era sphere of influence," Carter said. "The United States will not let Russia drag us back to the past."

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