Japan Rearms As China Gets Aggressive -- America Gets Ready to Help

China has an aircraft carrier -- and it's making Japan nervous.

Boeing's P-8A Poseidon. If it looks a lot like a 737,
there's a good reason for that. Source: Boeing.

As you've probably heard by now, Japan's prime minister Shinzo Abe announced a plan for massive rearmament of the island nation earlier this year. Through the end of the decade, Japan intends to invest more than $240 billion building up its Self-Defense Forces.

   Already, Japan has started buying Boeing's new superfast subhunter, the P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft. And this week, Japan confirmed what had previously only been speculated -- that it will be buying billions of dollars worth of additional military hardware from the U.S.

   According to a statement from Japan's Ministry of Defense, Japan will also be buying:

• At least 17 MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, manufactured by a Boeing-Textron joint venture.

Japan thinks the Bell Boeing MV-22
Osprey might be just the right aircraft
it needs to outfit its new fleet of
"helicopter destroyers." Photo: U.S. Navy.

Two eyes in the sky -- E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes 

in flight. Photo: Northrop Grumman.

• An unspecified number of Northrop Grumman's newest eyes in the sky -- the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft.
• And a handful of Northrop's unmanned spy birds, as well -- Global Hawk drones.

Northrop Grumman's RQ-4 Global hawk drone is a
lot bigger than you think. This lineup helps to lend
some perspective. Photo: Northrop Grumman.

Look out Santa -- Japan's shopping list is getting bigger
And that's just for starters -- just the acquisitions that made the headlines on websites such as Flightglobal and Avionews this week. Elsewhere in Japan's now-published fiscal 2015 Defense Budget Request, we see mention of Japanese interest in acquiring:

• "Ship-based" unmanned aerial vehicles -- apparently Fire Scouts from Northrop Grumman.
• A half dozen of Lockheed Martin's stealthy F-35 fighter jets.
• New, as-yet-undetermined, combat helicopters and amphibious coastal attack vehicles.
• Additional PAC-3 Patriot missile defense systems from Lockheed and Raytheon.
• A brand new, Aegis air defense system-equipped guided missile destroyer (and the outfitting of a second, existing destroyer, with Aegis.

In short, there's a weapons-buying bonanza going on in Japan. And there are opportunities aplenty for U.S. defense contractors to profit from Japanese rearmament.

Partial results: Moldova parties favouring EU ahead

   CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — Partial results from Sunday's elections in Moldova show parties that Moscow's sphere of influence.

Election at a polling station in Chisinau November 30, 2014
(REUTERS)

want to move closer to Europe leading those that want to move back into

   The parliamentary election has taken on wider significance with the unrest in neighboring Ukraine. Moldova, like Ukraine, has a pro-Russia separatist region in its east.

   Early results showed pro-Russia parties with a strong lead. But as more votes were counted, the gap closed and the lead changed. With 85 percent of the vote counted, the pro-Europe parties were ahead with about 44.4 percent, with 39.5 percent for the two pro-Russia parties. Parties need to get at least 6 percent to gain seats in the 101-member Parliament.

   The surprise leader was the strongly pro-Russia Socialists' Party, which was in first place with 21.6 percent, according to partial results.

   The impoverished former Soviet republic of less than 4 million people is torn between re-electing the current pro-European coalition and choosing parties that want closer economic ties with Moscow.

   Prime Minister Iurie Leanca said he voted for a "European Moldova — for a Moldova with justice."

   "Everything ... indicates that Moldova cannot exist without Europe," he said.

   Russia placed an embargo on Moldovan fruit after the country signed a trade association agreement with the European Union in June.

   At least 600,000 Moldovans work abroad, half of them in the EU and the rest in Russia. Remittances make up about one-fifth of the country's gross domestic product.

   In Moscow, around 4,000 people lined up to vote including Renato Usatii, a businessman whose pro-Russia party was banned from competing on the grounds it received foreign funding, which is illegal. There were also lines in Rome, and thousands voted in Romania, where many Moldovan students are enrolled at universities.

   Four-fifths of Moldovans are of Romanian descent, but decades of Soviet rule have left a strong imprint. The Liberal Party campaigned under the slogan "NO to the Russian boot, YES to the Romanian heart!" while pro-Russia parties likely received support from people angry with allegations of high-level corruption.

   The leader of the pro-Russia Communist Party, Vladimir Voronin, said he was voting for Moldova to get rid of corruption and "the Mafia," which he claims prevents the country from developing.

   Tatiana Frolova, a 62-year-old retiree, said she supported the pro-Russia parties.

   "We want to be close to Russia because Russia will give us a good life, and we get cheap gas and can export our goods there," she said.

   Those supporting the governing coalition had other visions.

   "We expect a better country after these elections. A beautiful future. A European future for our children, for our grandchildren and for all our country," said 56-year-old Petru Croitoru.

   The final turnout was 55.86 percent of the total electorate, authorities said.

Vladimir Putin’s Plan To Invade Europe

   (London) --- Russian President Vladimir Putin has a concrete plan of invading Europe, taking it under his total rule. The covert plot was exposed by Germany's well-known newspaper, the BILD, citing credible sources from the intelligence community.

   Mr Putin's grand plan was reportedly outlined in a supposedly classified document titled "Putin: the new leader of international conservatism." The blueprint was drafted by Moscow's Centre for Strategic Communications.

   "In Europe Putin dreams - and he has said this publicly - of having a sphere of influence across the continent all the way down to Portugal," the newspaper BILD reported as quoted by the Express. According to BILD, Mr Putin's strategy involves wooing different far-right political parties across Europe to support Kremlin's political influence within the European Union.

   According to BILD's report, Mr Putin's strategy includes hoarding gold through front companies, thereby giving the acquired gold to the parties it can woo as means of financial support. The report also suggested that various Russian banks and other financial institutions agreed to provide cheap loans to the different political parties that will be one with Mr Putin. Curiously, a loan amounting to nine million euros was approved by the First Czech Russian Bank of Moscow to a far-right political party in France, the Front National or FN, the Express reported.

   Mr Putin had also reportedly met with right-wing parties in Vienna in May, including political parties in Bulgaria, Austria and France. However, his main focus was allegedly set to Germany's only "mildly-eurosceptic party," Alternative for Germany or AFD, to get its vote in March against another looming western sanction.

   Vladimir Jakunin, Mr Putin's ally and "most important western networker," was reportedly delegated to coordinate all willing political parties in a convention recently held in Berlin. Jakunin is widely known for his effective propaganda schemes that he was trusted to bolster the bonding among the "friends of Russia."

   All political parties wooed and potentially will support Mr Putin were named in a separate report run by The Independent. Aside from FN and AFD, the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party or NPD and the Social Democrats or SPD were also wooed by Mr Putin. These parties were also said to attend the convention in Berlin held over the weekend.

   BILD was reportedly banned from covering the convention in Berlin because of its recent criticism against Jakunin. The newspaper had apparently condemned Jakunin for saying that homosexuals have an "abnormal psychology."

Russian Navy successfully tests new ballistic missile

   MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian Navy on Friday successfully test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic

missile for a second time in as many months, proving its reliability following a troublesome development.

   The Defense Ministry said the Alexander Nevsky nuclear submarine test-fired a Bulava missile from an underwater position in the Barents Sea. The missile's warheads reached designated targets at a testing range in Russia's far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula.

   The Bulava suffered many failures during a decade of tests, raising doubts about the fate of Russia's most expensive and ambitious weapons program since the Soviet collapse. But a series of recent launches has been successful and the Navy now has three Borei-class nuclear submarines armed with the Bulava.

   Two of them, the Alexander Nevsky and the Yuri Dolgoruky, named after medieval Russian rulers, already have entered service. The third one has been completed and is waiting to be formally commissioned by the Navy. Overall, eight Borei-class submarines are set to be built.

   Like the previous Bulava launch on Oct. 29 from the Yuri Dolgoruky, Friday's test was essential for confirming the capability of the missile, which Russia touted as a key part of its nuclear deterrent.

   With Soviet-built nuclear submarines approaching the end of their lifetime, the Kremlin has made replacing them a top priority in the arms modernization program, which envisages spending 20 trillion rubles (more than $400 billion) on new weapons through 2020.

   According to Russian media reports, the Bulava has a range of more than 8,000 kilometers (nearly 5,000 miles) and is capable of carrying up to 10 nuclear warheads. Military officials have boasted about its ability to penetrate any prospective missile defense.

Russian warships wait out storm in English Channel

   MOSCOW (AP) — Russian warships have entered the English Channel to wait out a storm following a North Sea, the latest in a string of Russian military exercises this year.

week of maneuvers in the

   The Russian defense ministry said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies that the destroyer Severomorsk, a landing craft, a rescue tugboat and a tank ship had to anchor in the international waters of the Bay of the Seine, off France, on Friday. The ministry said the ships have been conducting naval exercises in the North Sea since Nov. 20.

   Russia has conducted a variety of exercises following the Kremlin's annexation of Crimea and its involvement in eastern Ukraine. A recent think tank report recorded a sharp rise in Russian-NATO military encounters since the annexation, including violations of national airspace and close encounters at sea.

   The British defense ministry said all the ships had the right to pass through the Dover Strait under international law and added that they were escorted by a Royal Navy warship.

   German Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Col. Uwe Roth said the Russian movement does not seem to be dramatic and "does not constitute a special situation."

   But the spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed concern about a recent wave of Russian military exercises.

   "Even if it is taking place in international waters," Christian Wirtz said, the maneuver "isn't necessarily a way of emphasizing de-escalation and the readiness for de-escalation" in eastern Ukraine.

East Or West? Divided Moldova's Tense Election Season

Moldova

East Or West? Divided Moldova's Tense Election Season Comes Down To The Wire

   CHISINAU(RFE/RL) --- The chances that Moldova's November 30 legislative elections could end up provoking legal challenges and even protests keep going up.

   The Appeals Court disqualified the pro-Russian Patria (Homeland) party on November 27, a day after the country's Central Election Commission asked for the party to be thrown out of the race, claiming it had illegally used "foreign funds" to finance its campaign. The commission has frozen the party's accounts.

   The decision can still be appealed in the Supreme Court by the evening of November 28.

   A November 26 video has also appeared on a Moldovan site that purported to include audio of Patria party head Renato Usatii admitting that he was being controlled by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).

   Moldovan security forces detained five people who are suspected of planning post election violence. Police claimed they confiscated pistols, grenade launchers, and undisclosed sums of money. They said as many as 15 people who are allegedly members of an outlawed pro-Russian organization were involved in the plot.

  Even before these developments, Moldova's pro-European ruling coalition and outside observers were warning of the possibility of post election demonstrations.

   A recent report by the Center for Eastern Studies in Warsaw said, "in the event of the pro-Russian forces losing, we may primarily expect the election results to be contested, as well as mass demonstrations or even lengthy protests both in Chisinau and in Gagauzia and Balti."

   The Moldovan government has already given the opposition a powerful potential weapon for such protests by deciding to open just five polling stations in Russia for the election, although about 1 million Moldovan citizens are living there. Russian media have already been accusing the government of doing so in order to "ensure a relatively legitimate means of falsification."

   "The only one who is interested in destabilizing Moldova is, undoubtedly, Russia," Vladimir Socor, an analyst with the Washington-based Jamestown Foundation, says. "A Moldovan pseudo-Maidan would play very much into Russia's hands."

   The November 30 elections are a stern test for Moldova's pro-European ruling coalition, a vote that could determine the country's geopolitical trajectory for the foreseeable future.

   "If before everyone thought it was possible to adapt and find a stable balance between East and West, now, I think, voters really must make a choice between East and West," says former Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi.

   "This is because the 'reset' in relations between Washington and Moscow was not successful and because there are processes going on in the region that no one would like to see repeated in Moldova. So it is not a choice of the 'lesser evil,' as is so often the case in democratic countries -- but is a choice of direction for the long-term future," Baconschi adds.

What The Polls Say

   It is impossible to tell from the opinion polls what kind of ruling coalition might emerge from the elections. The pro-European Liberal Democratic Party and the Moscow-leaning Communist Party are leading with about 21 percent each. They are followed by the Democratic Party at 18 percent, and the Liberal Party and the Socialist Party at about 10 percent each.

   The pro-Russian Patria party had polled about 12 percent. A party must receive 6 percent of the vote to enter parliament.

   Collectively, the parties of the current pro-European ruling coalition -- together with the Liberal Party, which withdrew from the coalition in February 2013 but supports the country's European ambitions -- have about 49 percent, according to the polls.

   The solidly pro-customs union Socialist Party, together with the now-disqualified Patria, had polled about 22 percent. The Communist Party, which has traditionally been pro-Moscow but is currently divided and weakened, is polling 21 percent.

   It is unclear whether the Communists would be willing to form a coalition with any of the other parties, particularly since the Socialist Party is headed by Igor Dodon, who split from the Communists in 2011. In fact, there has been speculation the Communists might find it easier to ally with the Democratic Party of former parliament speaker Marian Lupu.

   Although there are many parties on the ballot, the choice really comes down to one between further European integration or a turn to the East and closer ties with the Russian-led customs union.

   "It is a decisive election for the future of Moldova, absolutely and unquestionably," analyst Socor says. "For the first time in its 23 years of independence, Moldova has the opportunity to finally tear itself away from Russia and decisively and irreversibly turn in the direction of the West."

   Paris-based analyst Nicu Popescu, however, notes that it is just as likely that the election returns -- and the resulting policy -- could remain muddled.

   Rather than a stark East-West choice, he sees a choice between "rapid Europeanization" under a pro-European government or a return to "multivectoral politics," in which Chisinau tries to steer a middle course between Russia and Europe. Moldova pursued such a policy under former Communist President Vladimir Voronin prior to 2009.

Russia Uses Its Leverage

   Since 2009, Moldova has been headed by coalitions of pro-European parties. The government has achieved some remarkable successes in the framework of the European Union's Eastern Partnership program. Most notably, it has signed an Association Agreement with the EU and has achieved a visa-free travel regime with the bloc. The EU is Moldova's largest trading partner (45 percent), followed by Russia at 25 percent.

   But the government suffers from the perception of widespread and unaddressed corruption. Many Moldovans feel their hopes of 2009 have been disappointed.

   At the same time, the government's European-integration successes have raised Russia's hackles. Moscow has said it views any alteration in Moldova's neutral status as unacceptable.

   Moscow has used its leverage to tip the scales toward parties oriented toward Russia and its customs union. It exercises considerable leverage in the area of natural-gas prices. It has exploited Chisinau's dependence on Moldovan migrant workers in Russia. And it has exacerbated tensions in Moldova's pro-Moscow separatist region, Transdniester. It has hinted that it could lift its embargo of Moldova wines and other goods if Chisinau changes its geopolitical orientation.

   Russian President Vladimir Putin held a high-visibility meeting earlier this month with Socialist Party head Dodon. The party's billboards show photos of that meeting and bear the slogan "Together with Russia." 

   "It is noticeable how Russia is trying to exert pressure, including by playing the card of Moldovan migrant workers and threatening to expel them," Elmar Brok, head of the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs, says. "Interfering in Moldovan politics is another method by which Russia -- as it did in the case of Ukraine -- is trying to prevent Moldova from independently making the decision to follow a European path."

The Controversy Around Patria

   The newcomer on Moldova's political stage is the pro-Russian Patria party, headed by 36-year-old businessman Usatii. The party was registered only in September, and it has been accused of being a "Russian project" since the beginning.

   Usatii made his fortune in Russia and returned to Moldova in April. He has been running a well-funded campaign that is tightly focused on the topic of corruption.

   "The first job to do," Usatii told journalists in September, "we will jail the oligarchs and the first such jailbird will be Mr. Filat [former prime minister and head of the Liberal Democratic Party]. I am announcing for everybody to hear -- upon our coming to parliament, Filat will cease being a cover for oligarchs."

   Usatii has received considerable support from the Russian state media that still dominates Moldova's airwaves. Russian crooner and State Duma Deputy Iosif Kobzon has held concerts to support him.

   He has said the policy of EU integration is a "Trojan horse" aimed at ultimately uniting Moldova with Romania.

   But Moscow's tough policies on Moldova in the past and the ongoing conflict in neighboring Ukraine have left many Moldovans wary of Russia. The Socialist Party's openly pro-Moscow position has failed to attract a large part of the Communist Party's traditional base. Although the Patria party favors the Kremlin's customs union, it campaigns largely on the populist corruption issue and tries to avoid being pegged as pro-Russian.

   For now, however, Moldova's fate is in the hands of voters, who have traditionally been overlooked in the country's politics, says Moldova Foundation head Vlad Spanu.

   "In Moldova, the voter is a little pawn who is only used during election campaigns," Spanu says. "He is often deceived, tricked by various concerts, bought with bags of groceries, and then they forget about him for four years until once again the need for his vote arises."

US Army may station tanks in Eastern Europe

    Washington (AFP) --- The US Army plans to deploy about 150 tanks and armored vehicles to NATO Eastern Europe, a top American general said Tuesday.

The first US troops arrive at the airport in Swidwin,
Poland on April 23, 2014 (AFP Photo/Janek Skarzynski)

countries next year and some of the heavy armor may be stationed in

   The move is part of a US effort dubbed "Operation Atlantic Resolve" in the Baltic states and Poland to reassure allies anxious about a resurgent Russia, with American troops deploying for several months at a time to conduct joint exercises.

   Nearly 50 armored vehicles are already in place and another 100 M1 Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles will be "pre-positioned" in Germany and possibly elsewhere for the US troops conducting drills with NATO partners, Lieutenant General Ben Hodges told AFP in a phone interview from Estonia.

   "The troops will come over and train, and they'll go back. The equipment will stay behind," Hodges said.

   The arrangement was "a lot cheaper" than transporting tanks across the Atlantic and more efficient for the training mission, the general said.

   Hodges said he would soon make a recommendation on whether to store some of the tanks and armored vehicles among NATO's eastern members.

   "I'm going to look at options that would include distributing this equipment in smaller sets, company-size or battalion-size, perhaps in the Baltics, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, places like that," he said.

- 'Closest to the threat' -

   The United States has about 29,000 forces permanently stationed in Germany, Italy and Belgium but has stepped up temporary deployments of troops for training and exercises designed to send a signal to Russia and NATO partners.

   The exercises are meant "to provide assurance to those allies that are closest to the threat," the general said.

   About 600 US Army troops from the 1st Cavalry Division are to depart in mid-December after a three month stint in the Baltic countries and Poland. They will be replaced by soldiers from the 2nd Cavalry Regiment based in Vilseck, Germany, who then will hand over in the spring to members of the 3rd Infantry Division, he said.

   Hodges, who took over as head of US Army forces in Europe three weeks ago, said the troop rotations will continue through 2015 and into 2016, saying: "This is going to go on."

   Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula and its backing of rebels in eastern Ukraine has sparked grave concern in a region scarred by decades of Soviet occupation, and the arrival of American troops has received an overwhelming welcome, he said.

   "I was in Lithuania yesterday, Estonia today, Poland a few weeks back. All I get is 'thank you, thank you, thank you' from those host nations for what these soldiers represent."

Diplomatic dead-end between Merkel and Putin

   BERLIN (Reuters) --- After nine months of non-stop German diplomacy to defuse the crisis in Ukraine, Chancellor Angela Merkel decided in mid-November that a change of tack was needed.

   Ahead of a summit of G20 leaders in Australia, Merkel resolved to confront Vladimir Putin alone, without the usual pack of interpreters and aides.

   Instead of challenging him on what she saw as a string of broken promises, she would ask the Russian president to spell out exactly what he wanted in Ukraine and other former Soviet satellites the Kremlin had started bombarding with propaganda.

   On Nov. 15 at 10 p.m., a world away from the escalating violence in eastern Ukraine, the two met on the eighth floor of the Brisbane Hilton. The meeting did not go as hoped.

   For nearly four hours, Merkel -- joined around midnight by new European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker -- tried to get the former KGB agent, a fluent German speaker, to let down his guard and clearly state his intentions.

   But all the chancellor got from Putin, officials briefed on the conversation told Reuters, were the same denials and dodges she had been hearing for months.

   "He radiated coldness," one official said of the encounter. "Putin has dug himself in and he can't get out."

   The meeting in Brisbane, and a separate one in Milan one month before -- where Putin made promises about Russian behavior in eastern Ukraine that German officials say were broken within days -- pushed frustration levels in Berlin to new heights. Merkel had hit a diplomatic dead-end with Putin.

   Since February, when the pro-Russian president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovich, fled Kiev amid violent protests on the Maidan square, Germany has taken the lead in trying to convince Putin to engage with the West.

   Merkel has spoken to him by phone three dozen times. Her Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a member of the Social Democrats (SPD), traditionally a Russia-friendly party, has invested hundreds of hours trying to secure a negotiated solution to the conflict.

   Now, German officials say, they have run out of ideas about how they might sway the Russian leader. The channels of communication with Putin will remain open, but Berlin is girding for a long standoff, akin to a second Cold War.

   "I think we need to prepare ourselves for a prolonged conflict in which Russia will use all the means at its disposal," Norbert Roettgen, chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the German Bundestag and a member of Merkel's conservative party, told Reuters.

   "We are essentially in a waiting game," said another German official, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. "All we can do is keep an eye on the violence in eastern Ukraine and be prepared to react to it."

DAMAGE CONTROL

   Merkel's frustration was evident during a speech in Sydney, two days after her meeting with Putin. In unusually stark language, she accused Russia of trampling on international law with "old thinking" based on spheres of influence.

   "After the horror of the two world wars and the end of the Cold War, this calls into question the peaceful order in Europe," she said.

   A day after she spoke, Steinmeier traveled to Moscow to assess the damage.

   He was ambushed by Putin, who at the start of their talks launched into a diatribe about events on the Maidan, accusing Europe of reneging on a deal to keep Yanukovich in power a bit longer, according to the second German official. Steinmeier later acknowledged that no progress had been made on the visit.

   German officials admit that for now, their strategy has been reduced to damage control on three main fronts.

The first front is Kiev, where Berlin is working to ensure emerging cracks between Ukraine's leaders -- President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk -- do not widen, as they did nearly a decade ago between the previous leadership duo, Viktor Yushchenko and Yulia Tymoshenko.

   Yatseniuk, a 40-year-old technocrat, emerged strengthened from elections in October and his hard-line stance on Russia risks making the more diplomatic Poroshenko look weak, German officials worry.

   A split between the two would complicate Kiev's ability to push through economic reforms and anti-corruption measures that are key for securing new aid from the West. This would play right into Putin's hands.

   "Everything needs to be done to keep them on track," said the first German official. "We are working every day to prevent a repeat of Yushchenko and Tymoshenko."

CHARM OFFENSIVE

    The second battle is against what German officials describe as a "massive propaganda campaign" by the Kremlin to convince Russia sympathizers in Germany and elsewhere in Europe to break with the hard line backed by Merkel and Washington.

   The most public example of this was an interview Putin gave to German public television station ARD.

   Broadcast on the eve of Merkel's Sydney speech, Putin struck an unusually conciliatory tone, saying he was convinced there was a way out of the crisis. In a message tailored for his German audience, he expressed concerns about ethnic cleansing in eastern Ukraine by neo-Nazis wearing swastikas and SS symbols.

   As part of this campaign, Kremlin-funded broadcaster RT -- formerly known as Russia Today -- launched a German language station this month to put across Moscow's view of the crisis.

   German media have been complaining for months about their news sites being bombarded with pro-Russian comments. German security sources say they are part of an organized offensive steered from the Kremlin.

   "Putin has tools to influence opinion within the EU," said Ulrich Speck of the Carnegie Europe thinktank. "He is doing his best to undermine the German narrative of the Ukraine crisis."

   Already there are signs of cracks. Matthias Platzeck, a former leader of the SPD, broke ranks earlier this month and urged Germany to recognize Russia's annexation of Crimea.

   This week, Russian Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukaev is being hosted by Russia-friendly businessmen in Stuttgart, the heart of German industry.

   Outside of Germany, Russia is reaching out to former eastern bloc EU members like Hungary and Bulgaria, as well as Balkan states. Last month in Milan,  Merkel was made to wait for Putin for hours because he lingered in the Serbian capital Belgrade to take part in a military parade.

   Russia also appears to be extending a hand to right-wing opposition parties in Europe. France's National Front confirmed at the weekend that it had secured a 9 million euro loan from a Moscow-based bank.

"HERCULEAN TASK"

   The Russian charm offensive promises to make the third big challenge for German diplomacy -- keeping EU partners united on sanctions -- far more difficult.

   The first set of EU sanctions is due to expire in March and will need to be renewed. German officials say Italy, Hungary and Slovakia will be the most difficult countries to keep on board.

   "Putin will be trying to peel countries away in the run-up to March," said one. Another described the battle to keep the EU united on Russia as a "Herculean task".

   Against the backdrop of this fragile EU consensus, ratcheting up economic sanctions further is seen as a "no go" in Berlin for now.

   That would change, German officials say, if Russian-backed separatists carved out a corridor of control from eastern Ukraine to Crimea by taking the strategic city of Mariupol.

   For Merkel however, the showdown seems to be evolving from a fast-moving tit-for-tat affair into a longer game in which the West slowly squeezes Russia's struggling economy in the hope that Putin eventually blinks.

   "Because we have ruled out war, some people may think they can do whatever they like with us," she said late last month at an event in the east German church where she was baptized, opening up to an audience of locals who, like her, had been taught to love mother Russia in their youth.

   "We won't allow this," she added.

France postpones decision on delivery of Mistral carriers

An aerial view shows the Mistral-class helicopter
carrier Vladivostok constructed for Russia at the
STX Les Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard site
in the port of Montoir-de-Bretagne near
Saint Nazaire, western France

   PARIS (Reuters) --- France suspended indefinitely on Tuesday delivery of the first of two Mistral helicopter carrier warships to Russia, citing conflict in eastern Ukraine where the West accuses Moscow of fomenting separatism.

   Russia's Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov told RIA news agency Russia would not for now pursue claims against France over non-delivery, but expected the contract to be fulfilled.

   “We are satisfied with everything, it’s the French who are not satisfied. We will wait patiently,” Borisov was quoted as saying. “Everything is laid down in the contract, we will act in accordance with the letter of the contract as all civilized people do.”

   France has been under pressure for months from its Western allies to scrap the 1.2 billion euro ($1.58 billion) contract, but faces potential compensation claims if it breaches terms. Suspension of contracts is a sensitive issue at a time when France is finalizing other military deals.

   "The President of the Republic considers that the situation in the east of Ukraine still does not permit the delivery of the first BPC (helicopter carrying and command vessel)," said a statement from President Francois Hollande's office.

   "He has therefore decided that it is appropriate to suspend, until further notice, examination of the request for the necessary authorization to export the first BCP to the Russian Federation."

   The United Nations says over 4,300 people have been killed in a pro-Russian separatist insurrection in eastern Ukraine which the West says Moscow has promoted. Russia for its part denies any involvement but accuses the Ukrainian military of using indiscriminate violence against civilians.

Moldova, eyeing Ukraine, divided on Europe integration as election nears

   CHISINAU (Reuters) --- An election in ex-Soviet Moldova next weekend will decide how closely it sticks to its path of European integration in defiance of Russia, as neighboring Ukraine struggles to handle a war triggered by following a similar pro-Europe line.

   The country - one of Europe's smallest and poorest on the western rim of the old Soviet Union - has moved closer to the European mainstream than any other ex-Soviet republic, barring the Baltic states.

   But, as a Nov. 30 parliamentary election approaches, opinion polls show Moldova's public deeply divided over whether to stick to this path or change tack and join a Russia-led economic bloc.

   The course pursued by the three-party Alliance for European Integration, in power since 2009, has earned Moldova, a landlocked country of 3.5 million bordered by Ukraine and EU member Romania, a ban on imports of its vegetables, wines and meats by Russia, its biggest energy supplier.

   Disenchantment with the center-right coalition's poor record in fighting corruption and rivalry among its leaders as well as nostalgia for the stability of Soviet times could result in a big vote for the left next Sunday.

   But Moldova's leaders say they are confident of keeping to a pro-Europe track nonetheless.

   Prime Minister Iurie Leanca, interviewed by Reuters, saw no retreat from the pro-Europe course and predicted relations with Russia would become smoother.

   Describing a new contract for Russian gas supplies next year as a "good signal", Leanca said: "We will return to the Russian market with better quality wines, fruit and vegetable products."

   If Alliance parties win enough votes to regain a majority in the 101-seat parliament or are forced into a coalition with the powerful communists - rivals but a moderate pro-EU force also seeking strong economic ties with Russia - Moldova will stay on course for Europe, analysts say.

   What could complicate its pro-Europe drive is a strong showing by the socialist party which prefers joining the Russia-led Customs Union.

   The socialists, whose leader recently met Russia's Vladimir Putin, say the pro-Europe course will cut Moldova off from a powerful and stable ally, Russia, which can provide plentiful supplies of cheap gas.

   "I don't believe in the sincerity of the EU even when they offer credits and guarantees. There is confrontation now between Russia and the West which is directed by the United States. But my family will vote for Moldova's 'eastern' development," said Igori Tronin, a 62-year-old pensioner.

   But Mircea Snegur, first president of independent Moldova, attacking socialist leader Igor Dodon for holding talks in the Kremlin, told Reuters: "People must understand that returning to the swamp we struggled out of will not lead to anything good."

   Even if the socialists muscle their way into any coalition, most people think that with a bedrock association agreement with the EU now ratified and with Moldovans now enjoying visa-free travel to Europe the country has gone too far down the road of European integration to turn back.

   There are good reasons why Moldova does not touch the same raw nerve in Russia as Ukraine does. Moldova's borders are about 800 km (500 miles) from those of Russia and its leadership has shown no interest in membership of U.S.-led NATO.

   With defense spending minuscule, it shows no intention of using force to recover Transdniestria, a Moscow-supported breakaway enclave which has drawn comparisons with the newly proclaimed 'people's republics' at the center of the separatist war in eastern Ukraine.

Finnish Prime Minister urges Finland to join NATO

“Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb has argued that the country needs to join NATO, and a growing share of the public seems to agree, although the issue remains hugely sensitive.”

   HELSINKI — Wedged hard against Russia’s northwestern border, peaceable Finland has long gone out of its way to avoid prodding the nuclear-armed bear next door.

   But now the bear is provoking Finland, repeatedly guiding military planes into Finnish airspace and deploying submarines and helicopters to chase after Finnish research vessels in international waters.

   The incidents are part of a pattern of aggressive Russian behavior that has radiated across Europe but that has been especially unnerving for countries such as Finland that live outside the protective bubble of NATO.

   As Russian-backed separatists have eviscerated another non-NATO neighbor this year — Ukraine — Finnish leaders have watched with growing alarm. They are increasingly questioning whether the nonaligned path they navigated through the Cold War can keep them safe as Europe heads toward another period of dangerous standoffs between West and East.

   Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb has argued that the country needs to join NATO, and a growing share of the public seems to agree, although the issue remains hugely sensitive here.

Gribauskajte: Putin trusted by no one

   (Zik) --- In her interview with TCH Nov. 23 in Kiev, Lithuanian President Dalya Gribauskajte said the world has no trust in Pres Putin’s words, Ukrinform reports.

   Asked about the kidnapping by Russia special service of an Estonian intelligence officer, she said such provocations are staged by the Russians not only in the Baltics but elsewhere in Europe.

   Such blatant behavior opens wider the eyes of our EU partners, she said.

   The world is fed up with such lies as has been evidenced by the G20 summit in Australia, Dalya Gribauskajte said.

Putin Woos Pakistan as Cold War Friend while India Buys U.S. Arms

   (Bloomberg) --- Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking to build military ties with Pakistan as India buys more weapons from the U.S., changing an approach toward the nuclear-powered neighbors that has endured since the Cold War.

   Sergei Shoigu, making the first visit by a Russian defense minister to Pakistan since the Soviet Union's collapse, last week signed a "milestone" military cooperation agreement. The world community "wants to do business with Pakistan now," Shoigu said, according to a Pakistan government statement.

   The move comes as Putin seeks to expand relations with Asia in the face of growing isolation from the U.S. and its allies over his support for separatist rebels in Ukraine. The U.S. overtook Russia as India's biggest weapons supplier in recent years, prompting leaders in Moscow to reassess their strategy toward South Asia.

   "We're seeing a new Russia," C. Uday Bhaskar, director of the Delhi-based Society for Policy Studies. "With India now widening its search for defense supplies to the U.S. and Israel, Russia too wants to expand the market for its equipment. Both Russia and India are reviewing their policies."

   Putin plans to visit India next month to meet with Modi as Russia seeks to counter sanctions from the U.S. and others. Russia this month announced plans to build a second gas pipeline to China, an ally of Pakistan, in a move that would cement Putin's policy of tilting energy exports toward Asia.

Ruble Tumbles

   "China and Russia are also allying themselves, so it's also one factor why Russia is looking toward Pakistan more cooperatively," retired Lieutenant General Talat Masood, a former chairman of Pakistan Ordnance Factories, said by phone from Islamabad. "It's important to be an ally of an ally."

   Russia's gross domestic product will contract by 1.7 percent next year after stalling in 2014, with inflation rising to 8.4 percent from 7.6 percent, IHS Inc. forecasts. The ruble has fallen about 28 percent against the U.S. dollar this year, the worst performance among 24 emerging market currencies tracked by Bloomberg.

   Russia and the Soviet Union have been India's biggest weapons suppliers, accounting for about 70 percent of its arms imports since 1950, according to data compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Pakistan, by contrast, has received only 2 percent of its weapons from Russia and the Soviet Union in that time, with the majority provided by the U.S. and China, the data show.

‘Critical Juncture'

   Russia and Pakistan plan to increase port calls of warships, cooperate in fighting terrorism and help stabilize Afghanistan, Russian state news service Tass reported. Shoigu also met Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who said steps were needed to boost the $542 million of bilateral trade between the two nations, according to the state-run Pakistan Broadcasting Corp.

   "Shoigu's visit has come at a very critical juncture when U.S.-led NATO forces are drawing down from Afghanistan by the end of 2014," Pakistan's government said in a statement. "Apart from promoting bilateral defense relations, the visit will enable both countries to join hands in bringing peace and stability in the region."

   It's important for countries to balance ties between India and Pakistan, which have fought three wars since they were split after British rule ended in 1947. U.S. President Barack Obama called Pakistani leader Sharif last week, shortly after accepting an invitation from Modi to attend India's Republic Day parade on Jan. 26.

U.S. Weapons

   The U.S. surpassed Russia as India's top supplier of defense equipment in the three years to March, according to figures submitted to parliament in August. They were followed by France and Israel.

   Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking to modernize India's armed forces and shift toward more domestic production to reduce reliance on imports.

   Two days ago, India approved a 158 billion-rupee ($2.5 billion) purchase of artillery, the first acquisition of large-caliber guns since the 1980s. If a foreign manufacturer wins the tender, the first 100 pieces will be imported and the remaining 714 will be made in India through technology transfer.

   Alexander Kadakin, Russia's ambassador in New Delhi, told the Press Trust of India last month that "there is zero technology coming from the U.S. to India," whereas Russia is building a nuclear power plant and fighter jets with India.

   He has also questioned India's fairness in awarding defense contracts, telling the Hindustan Times last year "we know what gimmicks are used to manipulate deals." He said that Russia has always stood by India and losing its position as the country's top weapons supplier "causes damage to our reputation."

Kadakin earlier this year dismissed concerns that Russia was changing its policy toward India in discussing the sale of Mi-35 defense helicopters to Pakistan. "Nothing will be done that will be detrimental to the deep relationship with India," Press Trust of India quoted Kadakin as saying.

Latvian Territory Approached by Russian Sub

   KIEV. 23 November. (UNN) --- Once again a Russian submarine has ventured near the territorial waters of Latvia, reports UNN.

   According to the National Armed Forces a submarine was detected 27 miles from the territorial waters of Latvia.

   This year, to September 1, Russian warships and aircraft approaching the border of Latvia 173 times, said the NZS. Over the last two weeks near the territorial waters of Latvia was seen five Russian warships.

In Escalation Of Tension Over Separatist Region Russia Sends Mig-31 Foxhound Fighter Jets To Ukraine Border

A Mig-31 Foxhound interceptor of the Russian Air Force Vitaly Kuzmin / Wikimedia Commons

   (IBT) --- In a move that could tip the balance of the Ukrainian conflict in favor of the Russian-backed separatists, Russia is sending a unit of advanced interceptor fighters to an airbase close to the Ukrainian border. Operating from there, the Mig-31 fighter jets would be able to survey airspace well inside Ukraine without actually flying over the country, and alert separatists on the ground of any movements by Ukrainian airplanes.  

   The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine tweeted on Wednesday that Russia was moving “Mig-31 fighter jets” to the border.

   The Mikoyan Mig-31 is one of the most formidable fighters in the Russian inventory. It’s a large, extremely fast interceptor that can fly at high altitude and almost at three times the speed of sound, making it the fastest aircraft currently in service anywhere. But its usefulness in the Ukrainian conflict would lie in its radar, which can spot as many as 24 aircraft simultaneously from as far as 200 km (125 mi). It can then fire long-range missiles which can hit at a range of 160 km (100 mi). That gives the Foxhound, as it’s known to NATO under a system of code names dating to the Cold War, the ability to see and hit well inside Ukrainian airspace.

   Russia hasn't confirmed that it’s moving any of its about 250 Foxhounds to Millerovo, or anywhere for that matter.

The location of the Millerovo airbase (red dot) on the eastern border of Ukraine.  Google Maps

   What is known at this point is that a spokesman from the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Andriy Lisenko, said at a press briefing that an aviation unit based in Perm, Russia, was being transferred to Millerovo, a Russian air base just 25 km (15 mi) from the border with the separatist region of eastern Ukraine.  

   According to the Russian Military Reform blog, run by Dmitry Gorenburg, a senior research scientist at CAN Analysis & Solutions who specializes in Russian defense issues, the only aircraft based at Perm were Mig-31s. Orenburg could not confirm that his data, from 2011, was still accurate, but a Google Maps image of the Perm airbase showed only Mig-31s parked there.   

A contrast-enhanced satellite image of the Perm airbase in Russia, showing Mig-31
fighters parked.  Google Maps

   Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine have shot down several Ukrainian air force planes since hostilities began earlier this year, but all with missiles launched from the ground. None were hit by other planes; the rebels are not known to possess any armed aircraft. 

Lithuanian President calls Russia ‘Terrorist State’ as Baltic Countries Prepare For War

   Russia was called a “terrorist state” by Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite as fears of World War 3 have continued to rise in the region and Russia’s neighbors are preparing for the possibility of war.

   In a statement this week, Grybauskaite said the conflict between Russia and Ukraine will have far-reaching consequences. As Russia sends more troops and heavy weaponry into Ukraine to support pro-Moscow rebels, Grybauskaite said the rest of Europe could be at risk as well.

   “Lithuania is one of the countries that recently walked a difficult road towards the restoration of independence. We know that today Ukraine is fighting for peace in Europe, for all of us,” Grybauskaite told national radio. “If a terrorist state that is engaged in open aggression against its neighbor is not stopped, then that aggression might spread further into Europe.”

   Russia has officially denied any involvement in Ukraine, saying the only troops who may be there are “volunteers.”

   “There’s some people who used to be military who are retired,” said Dmitry Peskov, chief spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

   Russia has become increasingly aggressive with its neighbors in the Baltics, including dozens of flights from warplanes and fighter jets meant to test NATO defenses. Last month a Russian sub was spotted in waters outside Sweden, just miles from Stockholm.

   Now those countries are ready to defend themselves and the possibility of World War 3. After a Russian warship entered Latvia’s exclusive economic zone, Latvia’s defense minister Raimonds Vejonis told Newsweek his country is prepared to fight back. “We have special plans of action. Working with the Ministry of Interior, we conduct exercises to train our troops and policemen for different scenarios,” he said. “But of course we need more co-operation with our neighbors and our NATO allies as well.”

   Sven Sakkov, Estonia’s undersecretary of defense, said the threats of World War 3 actually go back several years to Russia’s skrimish with Georgia in 2008.

   “We Estonians didn’t think that the history ended two decades ago,” Sakkov said. “The 2008 war in Georgia was a wakeup call but most of Europe hit the snooze button.”

   Grybauskaite warned that Russia’s aggression could lead to World War 3 as other countries in Europe are forced to defend themselves from Putin’s aggression.

   “Lithuania, as other European countries, understands that peace has to be fought for, peace has to be defended, and independence and sovereignty are untouchable. Every nation has a right to have its own state and no one can dictate how it should live, regardless of whether a country is big or small. Hence we must clearly tell the current Kremlin and the current Russian leadership that such actions will never be tolerated.”

   Other countries are picking up on the threats of World War 3 and trying to stop Russia by other means. The United States has led a round of economic sanctions, and at a meeting of the Group of 20 this week Canadian Prime Minster told Vladimir Putin to “get out of Ukraine.”

UK troops in largest armoured deployment in Eastern Europe for six years

   LONDON (Reuters) --- Britain is carrying out its largest armoured deployment in Eastern Europe for six years, in a joint exercise with Poland to reassure it in the wake of Russia's intervention in Ukraine, the Ministry of Defense said on Friday.

   Last month NATO-member Poland said it was drawing up a long-term plan to shift some of its military strength toward its eastern border, following Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea earlier this year.

   Britain said around 1,300 of its soldiers were taking part in the bilateral UK-Polish field training exercise in southwest Poland alongside a Polish cavalry brigade and tank battalion.

   "The training is designed to develop interoperability between the two armed forces and is a key demonstration of UK support to NATO reassurance measures in the region," the ministry said in a statement.

   Further deployments were expected over the next two years, it said.

   At a summit in Wales in September, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation agreed to form a new rapid reaction force and step up exercises in eastern Europe in response to Russia's actions.

   Britain has already assigned six Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter jets to carry out air patrols over the Baltic states as part of efforts to reassure its NATO allies.

   On Thursday the alliance's chief said NATO warplanes scrambled 400 times this year in response to levels of Russian air activity around Europe not seen since the Cold War.

China building South China Sea island big enough for airstrip: report

   WASHINGTON (Reuters) --- Satellite images show China is building an island on a reef in the disputed Spratly Islands large enough to accommodate what could be its first offshore airstrip in the South China Sea, a leading defense publication said on Friday.

   The construction has stoked concern that China may be converting disputed territory in the mineral-rich archipelago into military installations, adding to tensions waters also claimed by Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Brunei.

   IHS Jane's said images it had obtained showed the Chinese-built island on the Fiery Cross Reef to be at least 3,000 meters (1.9 miles) long and 200-300 meters (660-980 ft) wide, which it noted is "large enough to construct a runway and apron."

   The building work flies in the face of U.S. calls for a freeze in provocative activity in the South China Sea, one of Asia's biggest security issues. Concern is growing about an escalation in disputes even as claimants work to establish a code of conduct to resolve them.

   Dredgers were also creating a harbor to the east of the reef "that would appear to be large enough to receive tankers and major surface combatants," it said.

   Asked about the report at a defense forum in Beijing on Saturday, Jin Zhirui, a colonel with the Chinese air force command, declined to confirm it but said China needed to build facilities in the South China Sea for strategic reasons.

   "We need to go out, to make our contribution to regional and global peace," Jin said. "We need support like this, including radar and intelligence."

   The land reclamation project was China's fourth in the Spratly Islands in the last 12 to 18 months and by far the largest, IHS Jane's said.

   It said Fiery Cross Reef was home to a Chinese garrison and had a pier, air-defense guns, anti-frogmen defenses, communications equipment, and a greenhouse.

   Beijing has rejected Washington's call for all parties to halt activity in the disputed waters to ease tension, saying it can build whatever its wants in the South China Sea.

   Hong Kong media have reported that China plans to build an air base on Fiery Cross Reef. In August, the deputy head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Boundary and Ocean Affairs Departments said he was unaware of any such plans.

The Russian Army's Secret Weapon: Enter the Armata Program

   The Russian Army will induct a new family of armoured combat vehicles collectively called the Armata next Moscow next year.

year to replace its existing armoured war machines, according to Russian state media. Production of the new armoured vehicles is expected to start at the beginning of 2015 in January and two dozen of the new machines are expected to participate in the Victory Day parade in

   “The first batch will be available next year. You will see them in Red Square on May 9,” Oleg Bochkaryov, deputy chairman of Russia’s military-industrial commission, told the state-run ITAR-TASS news agency on November 18.

   Developed by the Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) Corporation in the remote city of Nizhny Tagil in the Ural Mountains, the Armata is being developed in multiple variants, including a main battle tank, infantry fighting vehicle, a heavy-armoured personnel carrier, self-propelled artillery and two support vehicle variants. The Russian ground forces are expected show off two-dozen machines during the parade—half will be the main battle-tank variant, while the remainder will be the armoured personnel-carrier variant.

   The Armata will ultimately replace the Cold War–era T-64, T-72, T-80 and comparatively newer T-90 tanks by the 2030s—assuming the Russian government can pay for it. The Armata series will also replace the BMP-series infantry fighting vehicles and a host of other vehicles; production could go into the tens of thousands if Russia were able to replace its existing vehicles on a one-for-one basis.

   The Armata was developed as a replacement to the cancelled T-95. First mock-up was revealed to Russian military officials in 2013. Its trials commenced in 2014.

Armament

   The new unmanned remote turret would be equipped with new generation of 125mm smoothbore gun with an automatic loader and 32 rounds ready to use. The first scale model of the Armata unveiled in July 2012 showed that the vehicle has a secondary weapon that could be a 57mm grenade launcher mounted on the left of the turret, and a machine gun 12.7 mm mounted on the right side.

Design and protection

   Further, in a marked departure from the usual Soviet practice, the Armata program appears to place a far higher priority on crew survivability than any previous Soviet or Russian tank. That could be because Russia is trying to transition from a Soviet-era, conscription-based force to a professional army where individual soldiers are not considered expendable.

   The Armata would be composed of two main parts, the chassis with three crew members and an unmanned remote controlled turret weapons station. There are three hatches at the front of the hull, with the driver position in the middle. The three-man crew consisting of driver mechanic, gunner and commander are seated in a special armoured capsule, separated by an armoured bulkhead from the automatic loader and turret with externally mounted main armament. The crew compartment will be also isolated from the motor compartment to increase survivability on the battlefield. This design feature makes it possible not only to reduce the silhouette of the MBT and therefore make it less observable on the battlefield, but also considerably enhance crew safety and survivability. The Armata will probably be protected with additional active and passive armour.   Some Russian media reports have suggested that the Armata’s armour is specifically being tailored to operate well in the Arctic Circle, an area of the world that is becoming increasingly important for that country’s embattled economy.

Propulsion

   This new main battle tank will be powered by an A-82-2 turbocharged diesel engine, developing 1,200 hp. It is a new generation engine that is much more compact than previous Russian tank engines. There is information that the Armata would also have electric transmission to reduce weight of the vehicle and increase the use of add-on armour. Suspension consists on each side of seven dual rubber-tyred road wheels.

Accessories

   Standard equipment of Armata includes probably day and night vision equipment, NBC system, front mounted dozer blade, fire detection and suppression system and a battle management system as modern Russian-made main battle tanks. The new Armata also have latest generation of active protection defensive aids suite. A computerized fire-control system is fitted to enable stationary and moving targets to be engaged with a very high first round hit probability.

   However, with a total order of 2,300 MBTs to be supplied by 2020, the Armata might be proving to be more expensive than the Russian government expected. Bochkaryov told ITAR-TASS that the Armata’s price tag is currently too high. Nonetheless, the Russian government is expected to sign a three-year deal to build the Armata at a set price. “We will continue to work with them, because we disagree with Uralvagonzavod high price,” Bochkaryov told Russia Today, another state-run media outlet. According to ITAR-TASS, Uralvagonzavod officials have promised to reduce the price of the new vehicle.

NATO Jets Monitor Russian Plane Over Baltic, Latvia Says

   (Bloomberg) --- NATO fighter jets intercepted a Russian IL-20 surveillance plane over the Baltic Sea

today, as the military alliance’s general secretary Jens Stoltenberg was completing a visit to the Baltic countries.

   The North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s F-16 fighter planes confronted the military aircraft over neutral waters near Latvia, the Baltic country’s armed forces said on Twitter.

   The encounter adds to a surge of interceptions that have taken place amid growing strains between Russia and NATO over the conflict in Ukraine. The alliance dispatched jets 400 times this year to meet Russian military planes near the airspace of member states, a 50 percent increase on 2013, Stoltenberg said yesterday while visiting Latvia.

   NATO responses to Russian aircraft over the Baltic more than doubled in 2014 from last year, rising to 112, the news service BNS reported Nov. 19, citing Lithuania’s Defense Ministry. That compares with 47 such incidents in 2013 and 44 in 2012.

   NATO fighters repeatedly confronting Russian warplanes near the alliance’s borders is nothing to worry about, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in a Nov. 15 interview to Bloomberg.