NATO tasked its commanders with drawing up plans for deploying combat groups
to the southeast of the defense alliance in response to Russia 's military
buildup around Ukraine . This was revealed by NATO Secretary General Jens
Stoltenberg.
"The ministers decided to develop options to further strengthen NATO's
deterrence and defense, including to consider the formation of a new NATO
combat group in central and eastern and southeastern Europe," he said.
"Our military commander will now work out the details and report back in a
few weeks," he added.
International tensions remain high as the United States says 150,000 Russian
troops are gathering in northern, southern and eastern Ukraine, and Western
officials say a Russian invasion could occur at any time. "So far we have
seen no signs of de-escalation on the pitch.
There is no withdrawal of troops or equipment on the ground. This of course
may change, however, what we see today is that Russia maintains a massive
invading force ready to strike with top-class capabilities from Crimea to
Belarus. This is the largest concentration of troops in Europe since the
Cold War," Stoltenberg said.
“Moscow has made it clear that it is ready to challenge the basic principles
that have underpinned our security for decades and do so using force.
I regret to say that this is the new normal in Europe." "If they (Russia)
use force, it will come at a high price," said Stoltenberg.
NATO defense ministers issued a statement saying they were deploying
additional ground troops in the eastern part of the Alliance, as well as
additional sea and air assets, as announced by the Allies, and had increased
troop readiness.
“Our measures are and remain preventive, proportionate and non-escalator. We
stand ready to further strengthen our defensive and deterrence posture to
respond to all contingencies,” they added. Russia has made it clear that it
has no intention of attacking Ukraine.
"We urge Western countries to stop fomenting anti-Russian hysteria, which is
already anti-Ukrainian too, we urge them to stop pumping Kiev with guns,"
said Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
"This action negatively affects the resolution of the conflict in the
Donbass and the general situation on the path of security and stability in
Europe," he continued, the state news agency TASS reported.
Meanwhile according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Moscow is
ready for talks the West offers to carry out on certain security issues if
it does not mean putting aside the country's important demands such as
halting NATO expansion to the east.
"We believe this is a positive step and will be ready for this dialogue but
not at the expense of clarifying the principle issue of our position, which
concerns the need to stop NATO's rapid expansion to the east and look for
other ways to provide security for all Euro-Atlantic countries," he said.
NATO has said it will not send troops to fight Russia in Ukraine, which is
not a member of the US-formed defense alliance.
However, thousands of US, British and NATO troops have been sent to
strengthen the defenses of Eastern European countries, including Poland and
the Baltic states.
Russia accuses NATO of having an "expansionist" agenda and moving closer to
its borders. Also, one of Moscow's demands during the flurry of diplomatic
negotiations that have been going on for the past few weeks is for Ukraine
to give up its ambitions to become a member of NATO.
However, NATO rejected Russia's request and stressed that Kiev has the right
to make its own decisions.
