US sending $180 million in military aid to Baltic states, as part of military buildup on Russia’s doorstep

The United States has approved $180 million in military assistance to the former Soviet republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as part of NATO’s military buildup on Russia’s doorstep.

The measure was approved under the $1.5 trillion government funding bill President Joe Biden signed on Tuesday, the Estonian Defense Ministry announced on Thursday. 

The additional buildup in the Balkans completes the placement of NATO military resources along the full length of Russia's European border, with the exception of Russia's ally Belarus. An attempted coup in that country, backed by the US, failed last year.

The US committed the $169 million military assistance under an initiative last year but the Biden administration offered $11 million more, and it comes as Washington seeks to bolster its NATO allies amid Russia’s military action in Ukraine.

In a statement, Estonian Defense Minister Kalle Laanet said that Washington has “taken a clear initiative in the current security crisis by supporting its NATO Eastern Allies, Ukraine, and bringing Russia to the attention of the international community.”

“The decision of the Congress shows that the United States is committed to the protection of our region and clearly understands that the defense of their own country also begins in the Baltic States,” Laanet said.

The Biden government funding bill also included $13.6 billion in humanitarian and military assistance to help Ukraine to fight Russia. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24 ordered a “special military operation” in Ukraine’s Donbas region. Putin said his country was defending Russian-speaking communities through the "demilitarisation and de-Nazification" of Ukraine so that their neighbor became neutral and no longer threatened Russia.

Biden, however, called the Russian military action in Ukraine an "unprovoked and unjustified attack," and the mainstream American media described it as the biggest assault on a European state since World War Two attack by Russia.

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The United States has provided Ukraine with several hundred million in additional military assistance.

US President Joe Biden authorized the $200 million additional military equipment for Ukraine on Saturday.

Washington already authorized $350 million of military equipment on February 26, after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the State Department was releasing "lethal defensive assistance" from US stocks to Ukraine.

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