NATO to Strengthen Troops, Russia Builds Emergency Hospitals

english.jpnn.com, VILNIUS - The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is considering strengthening its military in the Baltic states and Poland if Russian troops remain in Belarus after military exercises, the head of the NATO military committee said on Monday.

Russia has 30,000 troops in Belarus, Ukraine's northern neighbor, for joint military exercises this month, NATO said, bringing the total to more than 100,000.

Last week, the United States sent 3,000 troops to Romania and Poland to strengthen allies, while Germany said it was thinking about strengthening its military presence in Lithuania.

There may be further deployments from NATO allies, said Rob Bauer, head of NATO's main strategy agency from the Netherlands.

"Where do we have troops in the alliance continuously, in the different nations - the debate about that is the result of things that are ongoing now. Yes, we are looking at it. There might be changes in the future as a result of these developments," Bauer said at a press conference in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.

"It very much depends, of course, on whether the Russian troops in Belarus remain in Belarus," he added.

Moscow says it has no plans to attack Ukraine, but could take unexpected military action if its security demands are not met, including a promise that NATO will never accept Ukraine's membership.

The US and the 30-member Western security alliance consider Russia's demands unacceptable.