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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: NATO EXERCISES OVERVIEW
HEADLINE: 90,000 NATO Troops in Biggest Military Exercises Since Cold War
TEASER: Alliance chief says it shows ‘every inch of NATO territory’ is protected – but Ukraine struggles with ammunition shortages
PUBLISHED AT: (1/26/24 & 9:29a)
BYLINE: Henry Ridgwell
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: London
VIDEOGRAPHER: Henry Ridgwell
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: Reifenrath, Holly Franko, DJ (bal)
VIDEO SOURCE (S): Zoom, APTN, AFP, Reuters
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB _X_ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 2:22
VID APPROVED BY: Reifenrath
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES:
((INTRO))
[[NATO has begun its biggest military exercises since the Cold War – with tens of thousands of troops set to move across Europe in the coming months in a show of force amid the threat from Russia. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.]]
((NARRATOR))
Nearly two years into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the conflict grinds on into a war of attrition – and NATO is adapting to the threat from Moscow.
The alliance this week launched Steadfast Defender 24, its largest military exercises since the Cold War. Over the coming months, some 90-thousand NATO military personnel will take part in a range of drills across Europe, like those seen here in Romania in 2023. Fifty naval vessels, eighty aircraft and over a thousand combat vehicles are involved.
((FOR RADIO: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg spoke to reporters in Brussels Tuesday.))
((Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary-General (male in English) ))
“We do all of this to ensure that we have the readiness, preparedness and the forces in place to remove any room for miscalculation or misunderstanding in Moscow about our readiness to protect every inch of NATO territory.”
((NARRATOR))
The logistical challenge of moving soldiers and equipment is a vital part of the exercises.
((FOR RADIO: Liana Fix is a fellow for Europe at the Council on Foreign Relations.))
((Liana Fix, Council on Foreign Relations (female in English) ))
((cf. Zoom logo))
“So how do they get there? And how do they get there quick? Because the war in Ukraine has shown that being too slow means that a part of your territory can be occupied and has to be re-conquered.”
((NARRATOR))
Sweden, which hopes to join the alliance in the coming months, will also take part.
It’s the biggest NATO drill since the Reforger exercises of the 1980s.
But while NATO flexes its muscles, its ally Ukraine is running low on ammunition – as military aid packages in both the United States and the European Union remain blocked by political infighting.
((FOR RADIO: Again, Liana Fix.))
((Liana Fix, Council on Foreign Relations (in English) ))
((cf. Zoom logo))
“The narrative from Ukraine is that Ukraine is defending NATO. And that is a valid narrative if one follows the logic that Ukraine is actually diminishing Russia’s army, has diminished Russia’s army, and has diminished the military threat that Russia poses to the NATO alliance. So from Ukraine’s perspective, it must be a lonely moment to watch this NATO exercise.”
((NARRATOR))
NATO this week signed a contract for 220-thousand rounds of artillery ammunition to replenish members’ stockpiles that have been depleted through supplying Ukraine – but they will take two to three years to arrive.
((Henry Ridgwell, VOA News, London.))
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