The U.S. Reinforces Europe’s Northern Front, Fearing War With Russia

In quest to make NATO more lethal, the Pentagon turns to the high north and the Baltics

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(2 min)U.S. Marines fire a rocket system toward the Baltic Sea from the Swedish island of Gotland. VIDEO: DANIEL KLINTHOLM

By Sune Engel RasmussenFollow

May 26, 2025 11:00 pm ET

GOTLAND, Sweden—At the crack of dawn, a dozen U.S. Marines recently took position in a field on this sleepy Swedish island about 200 miles from the Russian city of Kaliningrad and fired their mobile rocket system. 

The dummy munitions splashed into the Baltic Sea, yet they sent a message to Russia: Even as President Trump has thrown NATO into a historic crisis by questioning its efficacy, in Northern Europe, the U.S. military is doubling down.

The Trump administration wants the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to get more “lethal.” A testing ground is Europe’s north, where NATO faces Russia on two sides.

Some European officials worry that America’s commitment to the trans-Atlantic alliance is waning, given Trump’s criticism of it and his stated desire to reduce military engagement abroad, but U.S. military commanders say their posture remains firm.

Military exercises took place on Gotland island, which is among the most strategic locations in Northern Europe. Photo: Zacarias Johansson/Försvarsmakten

American and British forces fire rockets on Gotland. Photo: Joel Thungren

“From a U.S. Army perspective, my orders haven’t changed,” said Brig. Gen. Andrew Saslav, deputy chief of staff for operations for U.S. Army Europe and Africa. While the question of future U.S. engagement is “on my mind,” he said, “I have been doing this too long to get hyperfocused on political winds and messaging that isn’t orders.”

The high north and the Baltics have been thrust into the center of U.S. war planning, as their access to shipping routes, territory and energy reserves will be crucial to the West in a new era of geopolitical conflict. The region is hawkish on Russia and is driving European efforts to rearm and boost defense budgets, including support for Ukraine’s armed forces.

During a three-week exercise, U.S. and U.K. forces joined Nordic and Baltic troops to practice potential war scenarios including live-fire drills, blood resupplies by drone and airborne jumps above the Arctic circle in Norway.

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The goal was twofold: deter Russian aggression and more firmly integrate allies in this strategic corner of Europe, including new NATO members Finland and Sweden.

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Carl Churchill/WSJ

“Now that Finland and Sweden have become members of NATO, we have a continuous piece of NATO territory no