Tanks, armored vehicles and 3,000 U.S. troops started to arrive in Poland Thursday in one of President Barack Obama’s last moves to reassure NATO allies scared of Russian aggression.

Poland shares a 144-mile border with Russia, and it’s one of several countries in the region that feels threatened by Russian aggression. The deployment is the largest U.S. reinforcement of Europe since the Cold War, and the first continuous one in the region. Troops will rotate every nine months and carry out military exercises in the Baltic nations, as well.

The move comes just a week before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who has signaled he wants to improve relations with Russia.

Obama became widely unpopular in Poland in 2009 when he abandoned plans for a missile base defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. The decision was symbolic in the eyes of the Poles since it took place Sept. 17, 2009 — the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland.

“They have not really forgotten that,” Polish Secretary of State Anna Maria Anders told The Daily Caller News Foundation in a June interview.

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