- NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg stated in Brussels that “Russia has walked away from the cooperation and the dialogue that NATO has tried to create with Russia for many years.
- U.S. President Donald Trump, who threatened to withdraw Washington from the alliance, the NATO summit from June 28 to 30 comes at a crucial time for the alliance.
- View MoreThe NATO Response Force, the alliance’s current quick reaction force, now consists of 40,000 soldiers.
As allies prepared to approve a new strategy characterising Moscow as a direct danger four months into the Ukraine war, the organization’s secretary-general announced on Monday that NATO will increase the number of soldiers on high alert by more than sevenfold to over 300,000.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February precipitated a significant geopolitical shift in the West, leading Finland and Sweden, which had previously been neutral, to apply to join NATO and Ukraine to become a candidate for membership in the European Union.
Prior to this week’s NATO summit in Madrid, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg stated in Brussels that “Russia has walked away from the cooperation and the dialogue that NATO has tried to create with Russia for many years.”
“Instead of engaging in conversation, they have chosen conflict. We lament it, but naturally, we must react to that reality, he told the press.
After failures in Afghanistan and internal strife under the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump, who threatened to withdraw Washington from the alliance, the NATO summit from June 28 to 30 comes at a crucial time for the alliance.
Read more: NATO’s Encroachment On Crimea Could Lead To World War III
The NATO Response Force, the alliance’s current quick reaction force, now consists of 40,000 soldiers. According to Stoltenberg, NATO will eventually have “far over 300,000” soldiers on high alert (NRF).
A NATO official stated that the new force model would take the role of the NRF and “offer a greater pool of high readiness assets across domains, land, sea, air, and cyber, which will be pre-assigned to specific plans for the defence of allies.”
In advance of the NATO summit in Madrid, NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg holds a press conference in Brussels.
At a press conference held at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium on June 27, 2022, in advance of a summit that would take place in Madrid, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg addresses. Johanna Geron for Reuters
According to Stoltenberg, NATO combat forces on the eastern border of the alliance closest to Russia, particularly those in the Baltic states, would be upgraded to brigade status, with thousands of pre-assigned troops waiting in further-western nations like Germany for quick reinforcements.
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