NATO to deploy AWACS planes in Romania and Poland

NATO said Monday it will deploy AWACS reconnaissance aircraft to overfly Poland and Romania as part of alliance efforts to monitor the crisis in Ukraine.

The flights “will enhance the Alliance’s situational awareness,” a NATO official said, adding: “All AWACS reconnaissance flights will take place solely over Alliance territory.”

“This decision is an appropriate and responsible action in line with NATO’s decision to intensify our ongoing assessment of the implications of this crisis for Alliance security,” the official said.

The NATO announcement comes as Washington and Moscow traded barbs over rival proposals to ease the crisis, with each challenging the other to show they were really interested in a peaceful outcome.

The AWACS — Airborne Warning and Control System — will fly missions from their home base in Geilenkirchen, Germany, where 17 are housed, and from Waddington in Britain.