Russian troops can make NATO Overwhelmed in 60 Hours

Russian combat equipment currently on display in 2015. | (Reuters / Sergei Karpukhin)
WASHINGTON - Deputy US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, Michael Carpenter, warned that Russian forces capable of invading and making NATO overwhelmed in just 60 hours.
According to him, even though NATO has piled up military forces in Europe, especially near the border with Russia, it is still not enough.
Warning of this Carpenter comes before the Foreign Relations Committee of the US Senate earlier this week. Carpenter warning refers to the report of the group
think tank RAND Corporation who asked Senator Senator Cory Gardner. The report expressed concern that Russian forces could create NATO overwhelmed in just 60 hours.
"At the end of 2017, when we implement all ERI funding (European reassurance Initiative) which appears online, our readiness would be far better to address the challenges and much better prepared to deter Russian aggression in the region than it does now," he said.
"I do not know that we are significantly more advanced now than it was when the report RAND out, but I'm sure at the end of 2017, when we have a team of combat brigades additional armor commensurate with the defense posture on the east side of NATO, we would be (able to)," continued he was quoted as saying
Sputniknews, Friday (10/06/2016).
This warning comes as the Secretary General of NATO; Jens Stoltenberg, trying to increase defense spending is greater for the military alliance.
"Tensions are rising, we live in a world that is more dangerous, we saw a more assertive Russia to the east and we see all the turmoil and violence in the south," Stoltenberg said during a news conference Thursday.
"It's okay for reducing (military spending) when the tension will subside, as long as we are able to increase the defense budget as the tension increases, and that's what I expect to do NATO allies," he continued.
NATO has repeatedly called on its members to spend at least 2% of their GDP for defense sector.
Russia has regarded the presence of NATO troops near their border as a security threat.
President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said earlier this week that the military exercises in Poland does not contribute to the creation of an atmosphere of mutual trust. NATO war games involving up to 30 thousand troops is the largest since World War II.