NATO tests its ability to “rapidly deploy across Eastern Europe” – without US help

NATO is testing its ability to deploy rapidly throughout Eastern Europe – without direct US assistance.

The six-week Steadfast Dart 2025 exercises across Bulgaria, Romania and Greece are underway as the Russian invasion of Ukraine approaches the three-year mark.

They involve about 10,000 troops from nine countries and represent the largest NATO operation planned this year, foreign media write, reports Telegraph.

The US absence from the exercises comes as European nations try to build "greater military self-sufficiency" over their concerns about the Donald Trump administration's commitment to shared defense and demands for increased European military spending.

Recall that President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday his intention to negotiate directly with Russia.

And US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at his first meeting with NATO colleagues in Brussels on Wednesday that European countries should dramatically increase their defense spending and shoulder the "vast majority" of funding for Ukraine.

As further noted, Greek and Spanish marines led Thursday's military demonstration, an amphibious assault near the central Greek city of Volos, in the first full-scale operational deployment of NATO's new Allied Response Force.

Created last July, the force represents NATO's latest strategic evolution, designed to be deployed at scale within 10 days and combining conventional forces with cyber and space-based technologies.

"This is what we are trained for," the commander of the ASF, Italian Lieutenant General Lorenzo D'Addario, told the Associated Press.

Western military officials – anticipating sustained tensions with Russia and President Vladimir Putin, perhaps beyond the Ukraine conflict – argue that NATO's new capability is becoming increasingly important to bolster its eastern flank.

They describe the exercise as "a significant historical moment, an achievement in modernizing and expanding NATO's readiness to defend every inch of allied territory."

The current exercise involves forces from nine NATO members, including regional rivals Greece and Turkey, deploying 17 naval ships, more than 20 aircraft and over 1,500 military vehicles.

Britain leads the operation with 2600 military personnel and 730 vehicles, taking command of all ground forces during the exercises.

The exercises, which end on February 26, focus on rapid deployment scenarios and multi-domain operations across air, land, sea and special forces, underscoring NATO's changing military posture along its eastern borders.

The participating countries are Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

Earlier this week, communist-backed groups organized small protests near the training area in central Greece, opposing the country's involvement in overseas deployments. /Telegraph/