U.S to send troops to Baltics for war games

The U.S. is set to deploy 600 troops, tanks and armored vehicles in the Baltic states and Poland later this year.

The soldiers and the military equipment will participate in military exercises in Poland and the Baltics. The Pentagon said the deployment was meant as a sign of solidarity for the Russia's neighbors, ruffled by recent events in Ukraine the Pentagon.

"These land training exercises help foster interoperability through small unit and leader training,"Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren said.

The soldiers, based at Fort Hood, Texas, are replacing about 600 paratroopers from the Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade, based in Vicenza, Italy. The Sky Soldiers have been conducting exercises with Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia since April as part of ongoing Operation Atlantic Resolve

In addition to ground forces, the U.S. has also sent F-16 combat aircraft to Poland and participated in NATO air policing missions over the Baltics.

The military maneuvers are being organized after receiving request from Poland and the Baltics to the necessity of such maneuvers, in wake of Russia's annexation of the Crimea and the country's support of terrorists in Eastern Ukraine.