As the escalation in Ukraine over the attack RussiaNorth Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) said it had deployed a special force, the NATO Response Force (NRF), to protect their member states.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Russia created something that threatened European security, including outside Ukraine. Therefore, he claimed that NATO had strengthened its fortifications to deal with this threat.
The NRF is said to work to keep the peace and prevent widespread attacks on NATO allies.
“This is still a static situation. What we have seen is Ukrainian forces are fighting bravely and are actually capable of inflicting damage on invading Russian forces,” Stoltenberg said after a summit of NATO leaders, was quoted as saying AFPSaturday (26/2).
Stoltenberg said the reason for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which is now heading towards the capital Kiev, is to ‘change’ the country’s government. Therefore, Stoltenberg decided to provide assistance to Ukraine by sending NRF troops.
According to him, the efforts made by his party are aimed at increasing defense after the allies spearheaded by the United States (US) also sent thousands of troops to NATO member territories in the east.
Stoltenberg claims the NRF has more than 100 jets operating on high alert in more than 30 different locations from the north to the Mediterranean. In addition, the NRF also has 120 vessels in these locations.
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NATO sends NRF special forces to its member countries, due to the increasing escalation of Russia vs. Ukraine. (REUTERS/YVES HERMAN)- – |
Then, the NRF is also said to have 40 thousand personnel which includes 8 thousand contingents of air, sea, and special forces with high readiness that can be deployed within a few days.
However, Stoltenberg did not explain the details of the location of the special forces dispatch. According to him, the decision rests with NATO’s top military commander.
“Yesterday, allies activated our defense plans. As a result, we deployed elements of the NATO Response Force (NRF) on land, sea and air to further strengthen our posture and to respond quickly to any eventuality,” Stoltenberg said.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the western bloc, especially NATO and the US, had left Ukraine amid the Russian bombardment.
(LNN / asr)
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