As Moldova's pro-European political parties celebrated an electoral victory against Russian-backed rivals, Marines headed into the small, former Soviet republic to talk anti-armor best practices with local troops.

A mix of about 15 assaultmen and anti-tank missilemen with the Romania-based Black Sea Rotational Force arrived in Balti, Moldova for the weeklong joint training exercise following what many experts see as a success for the West in what some call a resurgence of Cold War-era tension the ongoing cold war with Moscow. Despite alleged Russian meddling, a trio of pro-European parties secured enough votes in the Nov. 30 election to retain control of the nation's parliament.

Arriving about a week after polls closed, the detachment of Marines led a mix of conscripts and career soldiers with varying specialties — most were artillerymen — in discussions about doctrine, tactics, techniques and procedures. The event, which included a live-fire exercise, saw the troops use the FGM-148 Javelin, AT4 Anti-Tank Weapon and shoulder-launched multipurpose assault weapons, as well as Moldova's rocket propelled grenade system and 70mm recoilless rifle.

Officials said the timing of the combined exercise was unrelated to Moldova's elections in the Corps' account of the training session. First Lt. Ben Skarzynski, executive officer for the rotational force's weapons company who oversaw the exercise, would only go so far as to describe it as giving the Moldovans the "capability to provide for themselves."

"We didn't talk about anything very specific to the Russians, like 'The Russians are coming down, what do you do?' But, obviously, we're interested in promoting regional security," Skarzynski said.

Russian soldiers already are stationed in the former Soviet republic, which is nestled between Romania and Ukraine. After Moldova formed following the collapse of the Soviet Union, a sliver of land known as Transnistria — home to many ethnic Ukrainians and Russians — broke away from the newly independent nation.

The split led to fighting, a conflict that prompted Russian intervention in the 1990s. Russian soldiers remain stationed in Moldova's breakaway region.

It's tempting to place the exercise in the larger context of rising tensions with Russia, spurred by unrest in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea. The European Leadership Network, a think tank, released a report late last year documenting 45 incidents where Russian military assets sparked confrontations with NATO allies.

Those incidents include a Russian SU-24 Fencer buzzing the destroyer Donald Cook in the Black Sea in April and hounding surveillance aircraft in the Baltic.

But Dakota Wood, a retired Marine officer and senior research fellow with The Heritage Foundation, a Washington think tank, cautioned about reading too much into the exercise. Noting the small size of Moldova's military and its lack of offensive capabilities, Wood said it is unlikely Western leaders see the nation as a potential counterweight to Russian expansion in Eastern Europe.

Instead, the exercise likely is designed to strengthen relationships in the region, he said. Tighter bonds with Moldova may give the U.S. better intelligence in the area, for example.

At most, exercises like the Moldovan anti-armor session remind Moscow that the U.S. is operating in the region, Wood said.

"I think the larger argument is the U.S. seeks to have more friends and minimize the number of potential … nonfriends in that part of the world," he said. "It's not that there's no signaling [to Moscow], but this isn't some strategic move to put Russia on notice. It is what it is — you're helping friends."

Staff writer David Larter contributed to this article.

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