“This goes far beyond Ukraine — this is about how Russia is actually challenging and contesting core values of our security, and demanding that NATO should withdraw all forces and infrastructure from almost half of our members,” Stoltenberg said.
“We have to take this seriously, and that is exactly why we are now deploying the NATO Response Force for the first time in a collective defense context,” he added.
The activation of the response troops does not mean that any US or NATO troops will go into Ukraine, which is not a member of the alliance. US President Joe Biden has been clear that US troops are deploying to eastern Europe to help bolster NATO countries nervous about Russia's aggressive actions, and they will not be fighting in Ukraine.
Speaking during a press briefing following a rare meeting of NATO Heads of State and Government in Brussels, Stoltenberg clarified that while the US, Canada and European allies have “deployed thousands of more troops” to the eastern part of the alliance, NATO is not deploying the entire response force.
“We have over 100 jets at high alert, operating in over 30 different locations and over 120 ships from the high north to the Mediterranean,” Stoltenberg said. “We activated the defense plans yesterday, and now elements of this force are being deployed.”
According to Stoltenberg, the size of the NATO Response Force has “tripled since 2014 to roughly 40,000 troops.”
“I am not saying we are deploying the whole thing, I’m saying we are deploying elements,” he reiterated.
Read more on CNN here.
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