Romanian government officials who spoke to Air Force Magazine in Bucharest worried that Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to be moving towards a strategy of uniting the Russian-speaking areas of Ukraine under Moscow’s control. The move to reposition Russian forces in Ukraine’s south and east could lead to a Russian land border with NATO. Romania has been a stalwart American ally in recent years, hosting roughly 800 American troops on its military bases, including the air policing mission at Fetesti Air Base near the strategically important Danube river delta. In February, the U.S. also sent two F-35s to help deter Russia.