Not At All Quiet On the Eastern Front

 A slow-moving tinder-box:

Lithuania and Germany are in talks on increasing Germany's military presence in Lithuania "in light of current events", Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said on Friday.

Russia has amassed tens of thousands of troops near the Ukrainian border while demanding a redrawing of post-Cold War security arrangements in Europe.

"We are talking about possibilities to expand, increase the German and the Enhanced Forward Presence forces in Lithuania, as we need to strengthen the eastern flank of NATO in light of the current events", Nauseda said at the Siauliai air base.

Germany is leading an international battlegroup of more than 1,000 soldiers in Lithuania, one of four Enhanced Forward Presence missions sent by NATO to the Baltic states and Poland in 2017 in response to Russia annexing Ukraine's Crimea peninsula.

A German Defence Ministry spokesperson said on Friday he was not aware of plans to increase German military plans in Lithuania.

"There are definitely contingent rotations coming up, but this would not lead to an increase. Of the reinforcement forces, it is not planned to send any to the battlegroup. I do not know anything to the contrary," he told reporters in Berlin.

Lithuanian Defence Minister Arvydas Anusauskas said plans were already in place for additional allied troops to come to Lithuania, including where they would be deployed. He did not detail the plans.

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Latvian political leaders are pitching a plan to boost defence spending to better deter Russian expansionism, and are asking Canada and Western allies for military assistance to bolster the NATO alliance’s eastern flank.

Rising tensions between NATO and Moscow over the future of Ukraine have added fresh anxiety to long-standing fears among Latvia and its two Baltic state neighbours, Lithuania and Estonia, that they might be next if Kyiv falls under Russian control.

Latvia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Artis Pabriks and Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins are pitching the country’s parliament on raising military spending to 2.5 per cent of annual economic output from a 2.3-per-cent target. Latvia, with a population of 1.9 million, is spending about $1-billon on defence in 2022.

Mr. Pabriks said Latvia can’t properly equip itself alone so he’s been calling U.S. politicians. He said he would also like help from Canada, among others, if possible.

 

No, it's not possible.

Sorry.

Canada hasn't the means and Justin is a pansy.

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has rejected for now a Ukrainian request for weapons saying he believes a diplomatic solution is needed to handle Russian aggression.

 

In your hands?

Ukraine is screwed. 

You might as well have lied about whatever firepower you had lying around, Justin.