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NATO is mapping out “land corridors” to enable US troops and other allied forces to reach the front lines quicker in the event of a broader European ground war with Russia.
The move follows warnings from NATO leaders earlier this year urging Western governments to prepare themselves for a full-blown war with Russia sometime in the next 20 years.
The newly established troop expressways would see American soldiers landing at one of five designated ports.
They would then be deployed along pre-established routes depending on how a potential attack by Moscow would play out, NATO officials told The Telegraph.
The new routes would expand on existing arrangements that have been in place since last year when the alliance agreed to have 300,000 troops in a state of high readiness during a summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Under the current plans, US forces would land at ports in The Netherlands before being transported through Germany and on to Poland by train.
If Russia was to invade a NATO ally, US troops would be rallied to Rotterdam before heading east, according to the outlet.
Now, the alliance is also preparing to shuffle those troop entry points in the event Russia launches an attack on the Netherlands or destroys ports in northern Europe.
Other plans being drawn up would see US troops arrive at Italian ports and travel by land through Slovenia and Croatia to Ukraine-bordering Hungary.
Troops could also be dispatched to ports in Greece or Turkey before traversing Bulgaria and Romania to reach the eastern portion of the alliance.
Additional plans have troops arriving at ports in the Balkans, Norway, Sweden and Finland.
“Everything is created in a way so the necessary resilience exists — robustness, reserves and also redundancies,” Joint Support and Enabling Command (JSEC) Lt. Gen. Alexander Sollfrank told The Telegraph of the plans.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ratcheted up his rhetoric in recent days, following the US and Germany both giving Ukraine the green light to use its weapons to attack some targets within Russian territory.
On Wednesday, Putin warned that Russia could provide long-range weapons for its allies to use against Western targets, and hinted that Moscow would use nuclear weapons if its authority came under threat.