The deployment, intended to counter what Nato portrays as Russian aggression in eastern Europe, will see US troops permanently stationed along Russia’s western border for the first time. President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the BBC that the move "threatens our interests and our security". Russia has repeatedly warned that it sees the arrival of troops and military equipment on or near its borders as signs of hostility, which may destabilize the region. US to speed up deployment of troops to Poland, Romania and the Baltic Read more 
 
 That prediction was reinforced by Trump’s proposed defence secretary, James Mattis, and his proposed secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, who backed Nato during Senate confirmation hearings. The US Armoured Brigade will also carry out military exercises in the Baltics, all part of President Obama's response to Russia's intervention in Ukraine and to reassure nervous Nato allies. The US plans to rotate the troops every nine months, so it can argue they are not in breach of the Russian treaty, but effectively there will be a permanent presence. The troops from the Third Armor Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, based in Fort Carson, Colorado, along with hundreds of armoured vehicles and tanks, were moved from the US to Germany last week for transit by rail and road to Poland and elsewhere in eastern Europe. The incoming tank brigade is comprised of approximately 4,000 service personnel, 87 tanks, 18 self-propelled Paladin howitzers, 144 Bradley fighting vehicles and hundreds of Humvees. As well as being stationed in Poland, the US troops will fan out across other eastern European states, including Estonia, Bulgaria and Romania. Last October, Russia sent nuclear-capable Iskander missiles to its exclave of Kaliningrad, sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania, followed a month later by Bastion anti-ship missile launchers.
– Europe is welcoming the largest US military deployment in the region since the Cold War. Some 87 tanks, 144 armored vehicles, and 4,000 soldiers are expected to reach Poland in the coming days, with many already in place, before they're spread across Poland, Romania, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania as part of a NATO commitment in response to Russia's actions in Ukraine, reports the Guardian. Denmark, Spain, Norway, Poland, and the UK are also contributing to the force, which will conduct military exercises and rotate every nine months as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve, reports the BBC. But with a week before Donald Trump becomes president, the future of the force remains unclear. Trump has suggested he may not stick to NATO guidelines to defend all members. He also desires a warmer relationship with Russia than President Obama allowed, and the Kremlin has called the deployment a threat to its national security. A Russian security official tells Sputnik that "Trump and his new military advisers may well review [these] tactics," which he described as a "PR attack." The subject will likely come up Thursday during a Senate confirmation hearing for Trump's pick for secretary of defense, James Mattis.