Recently, there has been much more activity of Russian fighter jet intercepts of U.S. and NATO joint planes near Crimea. The U.S., under Pres. Trump, has been increasing pressure on Russia to sign a nuclear weapons treaty ahead of the November 2020 elections. There has been rising tensions between Russia, alleging that the U.S. and NATO operations in Crimea are undermining their airspace, while NATO is responding back by saying Russia is violating their airspace and conducting dangerous intercepts.
There has also been more NATO warship activity in the Black Sea, and Russia is on edge due to this as well. Russia’s military has charged that NATO is doing more reconnaissance and military activity, while NATO has fired back there is more dangerous maneuvers by Russian intercepts and the annexation of Crimea in 2014 as an explanation. These rising tensions are adding to potentially more hostility in an already destabilized region.
References:
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/09/20/russian-military-says-us-and-nato-flights-near-crimea-fuel-tensions/
https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/18/politics/us-russia-nuclear-treaty/index.html
Ouarda,
The rising military tensions between NATO and Russia have existed for some time, though they do seem to have gotten worse lately. It would have been interesting for you to speculate in this blog post as to WHY you think this is suddenly happening? Are there external reasons or events that you think are driving both parties to confront each other more aggressively? And what are the implications of doing so? For example, do you think could it lead to an actual military conflict? –Professor Wallerstein
P.S. It’s not necessary to include references in a blog post. I assume that you are relying on credible sources, but the views expressed are your own.