The Baltic states and Poland are asking for the deployment of 20,000 NATO troops on their territory due to the threat of Russia

The Baltic states and Poland are asking to expand NATOʼs military presence on their territory and to create new capabilities, such as air defense, that could significantly complicate Russiaʼs invasion.

This was reported by the Washington Post.

The decision is due by the end of June at a summit in Madrid, where NATO leaders will meet. At the same time, they are expected to approve Finlandʼs and Swedenʼs applications for NATO membership if Turkey does not block the process.

Journalists from The Washington Post refer to a conference document in which Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia propose to expand the NATO contingent in their territories by 20,000 troops.

"Russia’s direct military aggression against NATO allies cannot be excluded. Russia can rapidly mass military forces against NATO’s eastern border and confront the Alliance with a short war and fait accompli", the document said.

However, some countries, such as France and Italy, are skeptical.

"We will build peace tomorrow, letʼs never forget that," French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters last week, warning against actions that would make cooperation with Russia impossible in the future.

"We have to do it with Ukraine and Russia at the table. The end of the discussion and negotiations will be appointed by Ukraine and Russia. But this will not be done either in denial, or in exclusion from each other, or even in humiliation, "said the French president.

"We are not at war with Russia. As Europeans, we work to preserve Ukraineʼs sovereignty and territorial integrity. For the return of peace to our continent. We will always be there to rebuild Ukraine as Europeans, "Macron wrote on Twitter.

Eastern European leaders, in turn, say a lack of response would be a strategic mistake in the same category as the Westʼs limited response to Russiaʼs invasion of Georgia in 2008 and annexation of Crimea in 2014.

"He [Putin] believes in his own propaganda. He got it wrong [in Ukraine], so he could get it wrong here in NATO and convince himself that invading the Baltic states will not provoke a serious reaction from the rest of the Alliance. It would be a mistake, he said, but Putin is less likely to make a mistake if he sees a military force ready to fight back, "said Estonian Foreign Minister Jonathan Vseviov.