Thousands of NATO troops join drills in strategically sensitive Baltic Sea region

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Some 9,000 troops from 20 NATO countries are participating in military exercises in the Baltic Sea region, which has become strategically sensitive following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Sweden, which had joined the drills in the past, took part in the Baltops 2024 exercises for the first time this month as a full NATO member after joining the trans-Atlantic military alliance earlier this year. The exercises are being held on the Baltic Sea, as well as in Sweden and its strategic island of Gotland, and in Lithuania, Poland and Germany. Major gas pipelines run across the Baltic seabed from Russia and Norway to Germany and other European nations. The drills are organized by NATO’s Naval Striking and Support Forces and the U.S. 6th fleet.