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I hope Russia is watching this exercise

Operation Trident Juncture was to have been a modest tactical exercise involving 10,000 troops. But after Russian forces invaded Crimea last year and became heavily involved on the side of pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine it morphed into what a senior American general called “a dramatic show of force” involving hundreds of warships and war planes, and more than 36,000 soldiers spread across the eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean, Portugal, Spain and Italy.

“I hope Russia is watching this exercise,” said Lt.-Gen. Ben Hodges, commanding general of the U.S. Army in Europe. “We believe a central part of deterrence is not only having deterrence but showing capability in a transparent way that will help deter any possible conflict with the Russians.”

Those who thought that Russia was no longer focused on Ukraine because it recently joined the air war in Syria were wrong, he said.

“Ukraine is the place of most importance to Russia, but they went to Syria for three reasons,” said Hodges, who also worked closely with Canadian troops during combat operations in Kandahar. “President Putin had to get in there before Assad fell so that Russia could retain its foothold in the Middle East with its airport and naval base. Secondly, he wanted to show his domestic population and the world that Russia is a global power. And finally, he needed to distract the world’s attention from Ukraine.

“Putin still has 25,000 soldiers in Crimea and there is still a large Russian military presence in Donbass, which is why he won’t let the OSCE in to see what they are doing.”