NATO would currently be unable to protect the Baltics against a Russian attack, the commander of US ground forces in Europe, General Ben Hodges, said in a news report on Wednesday.
“Russia could take over the Baltic states faster than we would be able to defend them,” Hodges was quoted as saying in a German-language article by news weekly Die Zeit.
The general said he agreed with an assessment by military analysts that says Russian forces could conquer the capitals of Baltic states latvia, lithuania and Estonia within 36 to 60 hours.
Hodges also said NATO forces had found numerous deficiencies during the recent “Anaconda” military exercise in Poland, according to the article from Thursday’s edition of Die Zeit released early to AFP.