World Bulletin / News Desk 

Heavy U.S. equipment arrived Monday in Latvia and will be followed by U.S. soldiers who will be deployed to the Baltics next week, according to the Pentagon.

Spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren said 750 military tanks, helicopters, and other heavy equipment arrived in capital or Riga.

Approximately 3,000 soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division brigade combat team will travel to Eastern Europe starting next week, as part of three months of training missions with NATO partners in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Warren said the soldiers will be replace U.S. Army-Europe's 2nd Cavalry Regiment.

Russian officials view the arrival of U.S. troops in the region as a “provocation,” and said it may cause serious consequences for “Kiev authorities and the Ukrainian people.”