Status: 12/22/2021 8:44 a.m.
For weeks there have been Russian troop movements on the Ukrainian border. Now, according to a media report, NATO has responded for the first time with concrete measures and increased the operational readiness of the rapid reaction force.
In view of the Russian troop movement on the border with Ukraine, NATO has apparently responded with an initial concrete military measure. The operational readiness of the rapid reaction force has been increased, reports Die Welt, citing a high-ranking NATO diplomat.
According to this, the task forces known as the so-called NATO spearhead must be ready for deployment within five days from this Monday to relocate to a crisis area.
The rapid reaction force – the NATO Response Force (NRF) – is a multinational, rapidly deployable task force that comprises up to 40,000 soldiers. The spearhead is part of the NRF. It is the fastest reaction force NATO has. The multinational spearhead is currently led by Turkey, and according to “Welt” it comprises around 6,400 soldiers.
More protection for the Eastern European members
Other units of the reaction force, such as special forces or logisticians, were therefore placed on heightened alert, so that they too now have to be ready for a move much faster in the event of a crisis.
In addition to escalating the resurrecting conflict in Ukraine, it is also a matter of improving the protection of the allies for the eastern member states. They feel increasingly threatened by the latest developments on the Russian-Ukrainian border. A NATO spokesman did not want to comment on the new decisions of the “world”. However, the NATO allies had “made it clear” that any further aggression by Russia would have “costs and consequences”.
Moscow denies preparations for an invasion of Ukraine and accuses NATO of provocations. Putin recently demanded written security guarantees from the USA and the western alliance, refraining from further expansion of NATO to the east and the establishment of military bases in former Soviet republics.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also threatened a “military-technical” reaction to the “unfriendly” behavior of the West. According to the Kremlin, Putin also spoke about his demands on Tuesday during his first phone call with Chancellor Olaf Scholz.