NATO on March 14 amassed 30,000 troops and 50 warships near Russia's border for military exercise.
Western media reports say the drill, dubbed Cold Response, kicked off on Monday in Norway “amid escalating tensions between Russia and the West over the invasion of Ukraine.”
The exercise reportedly includes 30,000 troops from more than 25 countries from Europe and North America, 200 aircraft, and 50 vessels.
The Sun says the largest NATO exercise which is held just a few miles from the Russian border was planned long before Moscow's invasion of Ukraine but its significance has now been heightened.
"This exercise is extremely important for the security of Norway and its allies. We will practice an allied reinforcement of Norway", Norwegian Defense Minister Odd Roger Enoksen.
“It is not being held because of the Russian authorities' attack on Ukraine, but given the backdrop there is a heightened significance.”
The aim of the drill is to test how Norway and Alliance members would work together on land, in the air, and at sea in line with Article 5 of NATO's charter, which requires member states to come to the aid of another member state under attack.
The NA|TO’s official website says the exercise is defensive and long-planned, and it demonstrates NATO’s ability to respond decisively to any threat, from any direction.
Cold Response reportedly deals with a fictional scenario where Norway is attacked and NATOs collective defense clause, Article 5, is invoked. Exercise Brilliant Jump 2022, the certification of NATO's Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, is linked to Cold Response, according to the NATO’s official website.
