World News | NATO: Exercise Not Linked to Russia's Invasion
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. A planned NATO exercise with about 30,000 troops from more than 25 countries from Europe and North America began in northern Norway on Monday.
Copenhagen, Mar 14 (AP) A planned NATO exercise with about 30,000 troops from more than 25 countries from Europe and North America began in northern Norway on Monday.
NATO said that the drill, named Cold Response that includes 200 aircraft and 50 vessels, was “not linked to Russia's unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine.”
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The drill in NATO-member Norway, which shares a nearly 200-kilometer (124-mile) land border with Russia, will be held just a few hundred kilometers (miles- from the Russian border and was planned long before Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has declined to be an observer at the exercise that aims at having Alliance members and partners practicing working together on land, in the air and at sea, said the armed forces.
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The Norwegian armed forces said it provided “thorough information” to the Russians, including the Russian Ministry of Defense, saying that was “vital for preventing misunderstandings and unnecessary conflict.”
The drill, which is held every other year, is due to end on April 1. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)