Pentagon seeks to reassure allies

Ukraine crisis prompts plan to 'pre-position significant equipment' in Eastern Europe

The United States plans to store heavy military equipment in Baltic countries and Eastern European nations to reassure allies made uneasy by Russian intervention in Ukraine and to deter further aggression, a senior US official said on Saturday.

"We will pre-position significant equipment," the official said, commenting on a New York Times report that the Pentagon was poised to store battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and other heavy weapons for as many as 5,000 troops.