On June 19, 2013—just hours before President Barack Obama called for further nuclear reductions in Berlin—President Vladimir Putin issued a preemptive rebuttal, stating that we see that work is active around the world on developing high‐precision conventional weapons systems that in their strike capabilities come close to strategic nuclear weapons. Countries that have such weapons substantially increase their offensive capability. READ MORE

For the last six months of the Afghanistan war, U.S. military personnel and cargo headed into and out of Afghanistan by air will transit through Romania rather than Kyrgyzstan, the Pentagon announced late Friday. READ MORE

Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen thanked Italy for its significant contributions to the Alliance during talks with Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta in Rome on Thursday (25 July 2013). “Italy has been a staunch member of our Alliance since its creation and continues to demonstrate strong commitment to NATO every day in many different ways,” the Secretary General said. READ MORE

On July 1-3 Commander of the Polish Land Forces Lieutenant General Zbigniew Glowienka and a delegation were conducting a formal visit in Lithuania. On July 2 the guest met with Commander of the Lithuanian Land Force Major General Almantas Leika and Commander of the National Defence Volunteer Force Colonel Romualdas Moldaris, a meeting with Chief of defence Of Lithuania Lieutenant General Arvydas Pocius at the Ministry of National Defence followed. The aim of the visit was to exchange information on relevant issues of the Lithuanian and the Polish Land Forces and to discuss plans and perspectives of further cooperation. READ MORE