Allied forces gathered in the waters off Iceland to practice hunting for Russian submarines, drawing German surveillance planes to scour the waves alongside Canadian warships and Belgian fighter jets.
But for the first time since this decades-old annual exercise began, no American ships or aircraft joined the chase.
The NATO forces, led by a French commander, aimed to prove to themselves and Moscow that they could protect the continent without American leadership.
“We see Europe and Canada stepping up, and we see it literally here in Iceland,” Iceland’s Defense chief, Jónas Allansson, said in an interview.
Politico: NATO races to guard against Russian nuclear subs without the US