WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s defence minister says he has held talks with U.S. officials about having thousands of American troops permanently stationed as a deterrent in Poland.

Poland is concerned for its own and the region’s security following Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine and other steps seen as hostile.

Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said Monday he recently held talks in Washington about having a permanent presence of U.S. troops in Poland, where they are currently on a temporary, rotational mission. He said the U.S. Senate has contacted the Pentagon on the subject.

The Onet.pl news portal says Poland is offering up to $2 billion to help build the infrastructure for the permanent deployment. </s> WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s defense minister said Monday that he has held talks with U.S. officials about having thousands of American troops permanently stationed as a deterrent in Poland.

Poland is concerned for its own and the region’s security following Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine and other steps seen as hostile.

Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said he recently held talks in Washington about having a permanent presence of U.S. troops in Poland, where they are currently on a rotational, temporary, though open-ended mission.

“The result of our efforts is that the U.S. Senate has contacted the Pentagon about an assessment of … (the) permanent presence of U.S. troops in Poland,” Blaszczak said on state Radio 1. “Such presence is of great importance because it deters the adversary.”

The Onet.pl news portal says Poland is seeking the permanent deployment of a U.S. armored division and is offering up to $2 billion to help build the infrastructure. It says the defense ministry has written to U.S. politicians and the U.S. Congress with details of the proposal.

The ministry’s press office confirmed to The Associated Press that such a document has been forwarded but declined to give more details.

Other countries in the region would also like to see U.S. land forces stationed permanently in their area, Blaszczak said last week.

U.S. and NATO troops were deployed to Poland and the region last year as a security assurance. </s> WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s defense minister says he has held talks with U.S. officials about having thousands of American troops permanently stationed as a deterrent in Poland. Poland is concerned for its own and the region’s security following Russia’s annexation of the … </s> Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said on May 28 that he has had talks with U.S. officials about permanently stationing U.S. troops in Poland as a deterrent against Russian aggression.

Blaszczak said he had the talks recently in Washington that were prompted by security concerns following Russia’s illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and its support for pro-Russia separatist fighters in eastern Ukraine.

"The result of our efforts is that the U.S. Senate has contacted the Pentagon about an assessment of...[the] permanent presence of U.S. troops in Poland," Blaszczak said on state Radio 1. "Such presence is of great importance because it deters the adversary."

A report by the Onet.pl news portal says Warsaw is offering up to $2 billion to help build the infrastructure for a permanent U.S. base in Poland.

Poland currently hosts a contingent of U.S. troops on a rotational, temporary, but open-ended mission.

In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said that an increase in NATO’s military presence near Russia's borders "certainly does not contribute to security and stability on the continent in any way."

"These expansionist steps, certainly, result in counteractions of the Russian side to balance the parity which is violated every time this way," Peskov told Russia’s state-run TASS news agency on May 28.

Based on reporting by AP, BBC, Onet.pl, and TASS </s> WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's defense minister said Monday that he has held talks with U.S. officials about having thousands of American troops permanently stationed as a deterrent in Poland.

Poland is concerned for its own and the region's security following Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine and other steps seen as hostile.

Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said he recently held talks in Washington about having a permanent presence of U.S. troops in Poland, where they are currently on a rotational, temporary, though open-ended mission.

"The result of our efforts is that the U.S. Senate has contacted the Pentagon about an assessment of ... (the) permanent presence of U.S. troops in Poland," Blaszczak said on state Radio 1. "Such presence is of great importance because it deters the adversary."

In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said that an increase in the West's military presence near Russia's borders "certainly does not contribute to security and stability on the continent in any way."

"On the contrary, these expansionist steps, certainly, result in counteractions of the Russian side to balance the parity which is violated every time this way," Peskov said, according to Russian news agency Tass.

The Onet.pl news portal says Poland is seeking the permanent deployment of a U.S. armored division and is offering up to $2 billion to help build the infrastructure. It says the defense ministry has written to U.S. politicians and the U.S. Congress with details of the proposal.

The ministry's press office confirmed to The Associated Press that such a document has been forwarded but declined to give more details.

Other countries in the region would also like to see U.S. land forces stationed permanently in their area, Blaszczak said last week.

U.S. and NATO troops were deployed to Poland and the region last year as a security assurance. </s> Poland has offered to pay the United States $2 billion to house a permanent military installation to deter “potential Russian aggression,” according to a defense ministry proposal reported on by Poland’s Onet.pl news portal. Poland has temporarily hosted more than 1,100 NATO soldiers, including U.S. troops, south of Russia’s exclave of Kaliningrad for over a year as the Western military alliance shied away from deploying permanent military capabilities on the Russian frontier.

A senior Russian senator has warned that Poland could become a prime target in a possible East-West conflict if it stationed a permanent NATO military base.

“Poland becomes the object of a retaliatory strike by placing the base,” Vladimir Dzhabarov, first deputy head of the Federation Council’s Foreign Affairs committee, told the RBC business portal Monday.

He warned that a permanent NATO installation “makes Poland one of the main targets in case of a possible conflict.”

Analysts attributed the Polish defense ministry’s proposal — reportedly sent to Washington without clearance from the foreign ministry or the president — to Poland’s distrust of its European allies in a potential conflict with Russia, RBC reported.

“The closer they get to NATO, the more endangered Poland’s very existence becomes,” Senator Dzhabarov warned.

The Kremlin warned that the proposed U.S. base would pose a security risk to the region.

"When we see the gradual expansion of NATO military structures towards our borders..., this of course in no way creates security and stability on the continent," Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call on Monday. </s> WARSAW, Poland (AP) — American soldiers rolled into Poland on Thursday, fulfilling a dream some Poles have had since the fall of communism in 1989 to have U.S. troops on their soil as a deterrent against Russia.

Some people waved and held up American flags as U.S. troops in tanks and other vehicles crossed into southwestern Poland from Germany and headed toward the town of Zagan, where they will be based. Poland’s prime minister and defense minister will welcome them in an official ceremony Saturday.

“This is the fulfilment of a dream,” said Michal Baranowski, director of the German Marshall Fund think tank in Warsaw. “And this is not just a symbolic presence but one with a real capability.”

U.S. and other Western nations have carried out exercises on NATO’s eastern flank in past years, but the new deployment — which includes some 3,500 U.S. troops — marks the first-ever continuous deployment to the region by a NATO ally.

It is part of a larger commitment by President Barack Obama to protect a region that grew deeply nervous when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and then began backing separatist rebels in Ukraine’s east.

There are fears, however, that the enhanced security could eventually be undermined by the pro-Kremlin views of President-elect Donald Trump.

Poland and the Baltic states also feel threatened by Russia’s recent deployment of nuclear-capable Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad, the Russian territory wedged between Poland and Lithuania.

But Russia says it’s the one who is threatened.

“These actions threaten our interests, our security,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday. “Especially as it concerns a third party building up its military presence near our borders. It’s not even a European state.”

Worries about the permanence of the new U.S. security commitments are rooted in a tragic national history in which Poland has often lost out in deals made by the great powers.

Poles still feel betrayed by Obama’s “reset” with Russia early on in his administration, which involved abandoning plans for a major U.S. missile defense system in Poland and replacing it with plans for a less ambitious system, still not in place.

“All recent U.S. presidents have thought there can be a grand bargain with Russia,” said Marcin Zaborowski, a senior associate at Visegrad Insight, an analytic journal on Central Europe. “Trump has a proclivity to make deals, and Central and Eastern Europe have reason to worry about that.”

Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski expressed hope this week that any new effort at reconciliation with Russia “does not happen at our expense.”

The armored brigade combat team arriving in Poland hails from Fort Carson, Colorado. The troops arrived last week in Germany and are gathering in Poland before units will fan out across seven countries from Estonia to Bulgaria. A headquarters unit will be stationed in Germany. After nine months they will be replaced by another unit.

In a separate but related mission, NATO will also deploy four battalions to its eastern flank later this year, one each to Poland and the three Baltic states. The U.S. will also lead one of those battalions.

Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report.

 Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. </s> US troops, part of a NATO mission to enhance Poland's defense, before an official welcoming ceremony in Orzysz, Poland, April 13, 2017. Associated Press

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's defense minister says he has held talks with US officials about having thousands of US troops permanently stationed as a deterrent in Poland.

Poland is concerned for its own and the region's security following Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine, and other steps seen as hostile.

Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said Monday he recently held talks in Washington about having a permanent presence of US troops in Poland, where they are currently on a temporary, rotational mission. He said the US Senate has contacted the Pentagon on the subject.

The Onet.pl news portal says Poland is offering up to $2 billion to help build the infrastructure for the permanent deployment.

Poland and its neighbors in the Baltics — Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia — have all expressed concern about Russia. NATO-led battle groups have been deployed to each country. Lithuania has hosted 150 US troops since 2014, and in mid-2017 the country's president requested a permanent US presence " to not only deter but to defend" against possible threats.

A particularly worrying scenario for some in the region is Moscow closing the Suwalki Gap, a 60-mile-long section of the Poland-Lithuania border between Belarus, a Russian ally, and Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea. Such a move would cut off the Baltics from the rest of Europe. </s> The Kremlin has responded to Poland’s Monday offer to the United States in order for the latter to have a permanent military presence in the European country. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday the move would undermine stability on the continent.

"It depends what kind of base it will be. In general, when we noticed the gradual expansion of NATO's military infrastructure towards our borders, the immediate approach of NATO's military structure to our borders does not in any way contribute to security and stability on the continent, on the contrary, these expansionist actions, of course, inevitably lead to counter-measures on the Russian side in order to balance the parity that breaks each time," Peskov said, Sputnik News reported.

As a member of NATO, the U.S. through the Atlantic Resolve demonstrates its commitment to the security of NATO allies — Poland being one. The operation involves conducting continuous, enhanced multinational training and security cooperation activities with allies and partners in Eastern Europe. This affords U.S. troops to be present in Poland, although currently, they rotate between Poland and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

According to Russia’s largest news agency, TASS, the U.S.’ armored brigade with regard to Atlantic Resolve consists about 3,500 troops, 400 track vehicles, 900 military vehicles, including 87 Abrams tanks and 18 Paladin 155mm self-propelled howitzers.

On May 24, the U.S. Senate asked “the Secretary of Defense to report on the feasibility and advisability of permanently stationing a U.S. Army brigade combat team in Poland.”

Poland offered up to $2 billion to the U.S. to establish a military base permanently, quoting comments “U.S. President Donald Trump made clear in his landmark Warsaw address.” The address being referred to in a proposal from Poland's Ministry of National Defence was of the trip Trump made when he visited the country in July 2017.

“This continent no longer confronts the specter of communism. But today we’re in the West, and we have to say there are dire threats to our security and to our way of life. You see what’s happening out there. They are threats. We will confront them. We will win. But they are threats,” the president said.

Vladimir Dzhabarov, first deputy head of the Russian Federation Council’s Foreign Affairs Committee, told RBC business portal that “Poland becomes the object of a retaliatory strike by placing the base.” Dzhabarov, who is a senator, warned such a move “makes Poland one of the main targets in case of a possible conflict.”

“The closer they get to NATO, the more endangered Poland’s very existence becomes,” Dzhabarov told the publication (in Russian), the Moscow Times reported.

During his visit to Poland on Monday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg again reiterated his call for Moscow to accept responsibility for the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over Ukraine, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Russia was accused by the Netherlands and Australia for the tragedy which killed all 298 passengers onboard. Stoltenberg said this “more assertive” Russia is one of NATO’s biggest security challenges.

"I agree with the Dutch government, which calls on Russia to take responsibility for the crash," Stoltenberg said, calling the tragedy a “direct consequence” of Russian aggression towards Ukraine.
Poland's Minister of Defence Mariusz Błaszczak says he recently talked with U.S. officials in Washington D.C. about permanently stationing thousands of U.S. troops in Poland as a deterrent against Russia.