Pentagon

Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey and the US are due to take part in NATO's Breeze 2014 naval drills beginning on July 4, Bulgaria's Defense Ministry has announced.

The nine-day-long military exercise is to be held in the Western section of the sea and are aimed at improving the tactical compatibility and collaboration among naval forces of the alliance's member states.

The United States is ramping up its military presence in Iraq, deploying around 300 additional troops as well as helicopters and drone aircraft in response security concerns in Baghdad, officials said on June 30.

Secretary of State John Kerry signaled on Friday that the U.S. hopes to enlist moderate Syrian opposition fighters that the Obama administration has reluctantly decided to arm and train in the battle against militant extremists in neighboring Iraq.

Syrian fighter jets bombed positions of Islamist insurgents near the border with Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki backs actions of Damascus against the militants led by Sunni extremist Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) who control significant parts of the country's territory and also have some gains in Syria.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will attend key NATO discussions on Iraq on June 25, the day after U.S. military advisers began moving into Baghdad as Iraqi forces battle Sunni militants.

Iraqi government troops held off Sunni insurgent attacks on a key town and an oil refinery Tuesday as Kerry pushed for unity in a conflict the UN says has killed nearly 1,100.

The U.S. Air Force on June 23 temporarily halted flights at a Florida air base of 26 F-35A fighter jets built by Lockheed Martin Corp after a jet caught fire as it was preparing to take off for a training flight, a Pentagon spokesman said. 

US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel will pay a visit to Romania on Thursday at the invitation of his Romanian counterpart Mircea Dusa, on which occasion the American official will also meet with Prime Minister Victor Ponta.

Pentagon officials have announced the USS Vella Gulf, a US warship, will reach the Black Sea later this week as part of maneuvers showing support for Ukraine.

Navy Rear Admiral John Kirby was quoted by the Huffington Post as saying that the US also aimed to reassure its European allies that Washington is committed to their security, as tensions between Kiev and Moscow remain.

After two decades of trying to build a partnership with Russia, NATO now feels compelled to start treating Moscow as an adversary, NATO's second ranking official said Thursday. 

The USA will send around 600 troops to Poland and the Baltic States for infantry exercises, said the Pentagon. 

According to Rear Admiral John Kirby, this is in response to Russia's incursion into Ukraine.

The first contingent of 150 soldiers from the Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade, based in Italy, will arrive in Poland on Wednesday to conduct infantry exercises.