Poland’s leader hails ‘historic’ presence of US troops

Polish President Andrzej Duda has hailed the “historic” presence of US soldiers on his country’s soil, saying it would reinforce Poland’s security within NATO.
The US armored brigade of some 3,500 troops as well as tanks and heavy equipment arrived in Poland this month, one of the largest deployments of US forces in Europe since the Cold War.
“This moment is historic, because it changes the model in our part of Europe,” Duda said at the launch of a joint exercise of Polish and American troops in Zagan, a town near the German border. He was joined by Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, the US Army commander in Europe.
The previous US administration of President Barack Obama ordered the deployment to reassure NATO allies in eastern Europe after Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
The Kremlin has denounced the operation as a “threat” to its security.
Although President Donald Trump has said he wants to ease tensions with Moscow, the deployments remain in place for now.
Three decades ago, the Zagan garrison which is hosting the US troops housed “another army which we had not invited and which we had to treat as allies,” Duda said, referring to former Soviet troops in then-communist Poland.
The so-called “Iron Brigade,” from Fort Carson in Colorado, will also be deployed in rotation in six other NATO members — the three Baltic states as well as Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania. 
Also Monday, a sudden surge in clashes between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed rebels killed at least seven people despite a tattered truce in Ukraine’s war-scarred east.
The fighting came as Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko urged German Chancellor Angela Merkel to step up economic sanctions against Moscow.
“Since Sunday, there have been continuing clashes and heavy attacks on our positions,” said Ukraine’s 72nd army brigade spokeswoman Olena Mokrynchuk.
The military in Kiev said three of its soldiers had died on Sunday night.
An AFP reporter in the town of Avdiivka near the de facto rebel capital Donetsk saw Kiev troops capture three rebels on Monday. Two of them later died of their wounds.
Electricity has been off since Sunday and water supplies are sporadic in Avdiivka amid the shelling and gunfire.
The separatists also reported two civilians deaths from Ukrainian fire around Donetsk.
The bloodshed put at risk yet another attempt by exasperated mediators to end one of Europe’s bloodiest conflicts since the 1990s Balkans wars.

Source: Arab News