By Ewen MacAskillThe Kremlin has hit out at the biggest deployment of US troops in Europe since the end of the cold war, branding the arrival of troops and tanks in Poland as a threat to Russia's national security. Some people waved and held up American flags as the troops, tanks and heavy armoured vehicles cross into south-western Poland from Germany, according to the Associated Press. As well as being stationed in Poland, the US troops will fan out across other eastern European states, including Estonia and Bulgaria and Romania. Few at Nato seriously believe that war with Russia is likely but there have been dangerous developments, with escalation on both sides, including a build-up of Russian troops. Russia alarmed Poland and other eastern European states by moving nuclear-capable Iskander-M missiles to its naval base at Kaliningrad in the autumn.

Source: New Zealand Herald January 15, 2017 03:12 UTC