Differences emerge among NATO members over how to step up military deployments in Eastern Europe following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Debate highlights differing assessments of lessons learned from Russia's war against Ukraine. The Baltic states and Poland are asking for a significant expansion of the alliance's military presence on their territory and the creation of new capabilities, such as air defense, which could make it harder for Russia to invade.. Other politicians, including those from France and Italy, express skepticism that a disorderly Russian invasion force poses a threat to NATO territory any time soon.. The Washington Post writes about it..

An initial decision must be made before the end of June, when NATO leaders meet for a summit in Madrid.. At this meeting, they are also expected to give initial approval to Finland's and Sweden's membership bids should Turkey change its stance..

It is the expansion that would significantly increase NATO's military potential in the Eastern part of the alliance..

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“Russia can quickly deploy military forces against NATO’s eastern border and confront the Alliance with a short war,” the document says, which also proposes to send a contingent of about 20,000 troops to each of the threatened countries..

Other members of the alliance are more cautious about new commitments in Eastern Europe, fearing large deployments that would be costly and divert troops from other regions..

Eastern European leaders say a weak response would be a strategic mistake in? in the same category as the limited Western reaction to Russia's 2008 invasion of Georgia and the 2014 annexation of Crimea. Eastern European officials believe it was a signal to Russian President Vladimir Putin that he could get away with attacking his neighbors..

By invading Ukraine in February, Putin “clearly miscalculated on some basic things,” Estonian Foreign Ministry Secretary General Jonathan Vseviov said..

" He made a mistake [in Ukraine], so he could make a mistake here”, on NATO territory and convince himself that the invasion of the Baltic countries will not cause a serious reaction from the alliance, Vseviov added.. In his opinion, Putin is less likely to make a mistake if he sees a military force ready to fight back..

Strengthening the NATO presence was one of the topics of the meeting of the foreign ministers of the countries of the alliance in Berlin, who agreed to continue the discussion on the eve of the summit in Madrid. Eastern European Officials Worried Western European Support Will Decline as War in Ukraine Ends.

While most Eastern European countries do not expect an imminent invasion, citing the fact that Russian troops are now stuck in Ukraine and will likely need time to regroup after the war, they argue that a stronger force in the East is needed to prevent a repeat of the actions..

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Earlier it was reported that Finland and Sweden submitted letters expressing the interest of their countries to become members of the North Atlantic Alliance..

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg received in Brussels from the ambassadors of Finland and Sweden and applications for membership of their countries in the alliance.

Finland and Sweden have long synchronized their security and defense policies. Unlike their NATO neighbors Denmark and Norway, Sweden and Finland had to rely on themselves. When it turned out that Russia is a much more dangerous neighbor than it seemed, Sweden and Finland revised their position on NATO. Read more in the article by Alina Gritsenko "