NATO agrees on rapid force for East Europe
Iran Press TV
Fri Sep 5, 2014 1:6PM GMT
NATO leaders have agreed to deploy several thousand troops to Eastern Europe that could quickly mobilize if any ally comes under attack.
Addressing the closing of a two-day NATO summit in southern Wales on Friday, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the planned deployment of a rapid reaction force would send an unveiled message to potential aggressors.
"Should you even think of attacking one ally, you will be facing the whole alliance," he said.
Rasmussen added that the new unit would give the military alliance a "continuous presence" in Eastern Europe.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said his country is willing to contribute 3,500 personnel to the high-readiness force, adding, "We must be able to act more swiftly."
On Thursday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said several NATO members are to provide Kiev government with both lethal and non-lethal military equipment to help it fight off pro-Russia forces in eastern Ukraine.
But Rasmussen said it is up to individual members of the military alliance to decide whether to supply arms to Ukraine.
Ukraine's mainly Russian-speaking regions in the east have witnessed deadly clashes between pro-Moscow forces and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations to silence pro-Russians in mid-April.
Violence intensified in May after the two flashpoint regions of Donetsk and Lugansk held local referendums, in which their residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from Ukraine.
Western powers and the Kiev government accuse Moscow of having a hand in the crisis in eastern Ukraine, but the Kremlin denies the accusation.
KA/HSN/SS
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