The largest build-up of NATO troops since the Cold War has now seen NATO and the United States steadily and heavily reinforcing its military units in eastern European states threatened by Russia with invasion.

UK Secretary of State for Defense Michel Fallon confirmed the Royal Air Force will deploy Eurofighter Typhoon multirole fighter jets to Romania in 2017 while the British Army will deploy 800 men to Estonia by May 2017.

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"Backed by a rising defense budget, this deployment of air, land and sea forces shows that we will continue to play a leading role in NATO, supporting the defense and security of our allies from the north to the south of the alliance," said Fallon.

Tensions between Russia and NATO have been increasing ever since Russia annexed the Crimea region in 2014. Some analysts claim Russian president Vladimir Putin is bent on resurrecting the Soviet Union's communist empire, either by threatening war or going to war against NATO.

Those tensions have been worsened by Russia's role in the Syrian civil war and by deploying large number of warships from the Russian Navy to the Mediterranean Sea. That number will rise top 18 with the arrival in November of a naval task force led by the heavy aircraft-carrying missile cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov (063).

The presence of a powerful Russian fleet off the southern flank of NATO is an altogether visible attempt to surround NATO with Russian firepower on the pretext of assisting Russian ally, Syria.

NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said that recent tactics by Moscow had forced NATO to respond.

"Russia has tripled defense spending," he said. "Russia has invested heavily in a modern military equipment. They are conducting a large scale no notice exercises close to NATO borders, but perhaps most importantly Russia has been willing to use military force against neighbors.

"We have seen that in Georgia and we have seen it in Ukraine with illegal annexation of Crimea and the continued destabilization of Eastern Ukraine. So therefore NATO has to respond. "

The UK in July confirmed it will deploy one of four battalions to NATO's enhanced forward presence in the Baltic States and Poland. The deployment will include armored Infantry, equipped with Warrior armored fighting vehicles, tactical UAVs and a troop of our Challenger 2 Main Battle Tanks.

Several NATO member states have promised troop contributions to a force of 4,000 soldiers to be spread across Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. To begin in early 2017, the deployments are key to NATO's effort to reinforce territory threatened by Russia.

"Close to our borders, Russia continues its assertive military posturing," said Stoltenberg at the start of talks among NATO allies. "It is important and it is necessary that NATO responds when we see the substantial and significant military buildup of Russia over a long period of time."

TagsNATO, United States, Russia, Invasion, Secretary of State for Defense Michel Fallon, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland