Poland has welcomed several thousand US troops along with tanks and heavy equipment under a planned NATO operation to beef up its Eastern European allies, vexing the Kremlin, which said the troops' presence is a threat to Russia.
The largest US military reinforcement of Europe in decades of around 2,700 troops, out of 3,500 planned, arrived as part of operation Atlantic Resolve, aimed at showing Moscow Washington's commitment to its allies.
"The main goal of our mission is deterrence and prevention of threats," US Army Colonel Christopher R. Norrie, commander of the 3rd Armoured Brigade Combat Team, said at a welcome ceremony in Poland's western city of Zagan.
Poland and the Baltic former Soviet Republics requested US and NATO troops after Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula in 2014, fearing further military operations in the region by President Vladimir Putin.
The Kremlin, which has previously criticised NATO for its reinforcement in Eastern Europe, said on Thursday the deployment was an aggressive step along its borders.
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"We consider this a threat to us," Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin's spokesman, told journalists on a conference call.
"We are talking here about a third country stepping up its military presence in Europe near our borders."
