NATO will agree at a summit on Thursday in strengthening forces on the alliance’s eastern flank, with the deployment of four new battle groups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, NATO’s secretary-general said, according to Reuters.
“I expect leaders will agree to strengthen NATO’s posture in all domains, with major increases in the eastern part of the alliance on land, in the air and at sea,” Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference ahead of the summit in Brussels on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
He said that with the new battle groups and existing forces in the Baltic countries and Poland, NATO would have eight multinational groups along the alliance’s eastern flank.
Stoltenberg said that the Ukraine crisis has shown that NATO must reset its deterrence and defence posture for the longer term.
Stoltenberg said that when NATO leaders meet on Thursday he expects them to “call on China to condemn the invasion and to engage in diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful way to end the war as soon as possible”.
NATO warned on Wednesday against Russia’s war in Ukraine sliding into a nuclear confrontation between Moscow and the West.
“Russia must understand that it can never win a nuclear war,” he said on the eve of a summit of the Western military alliance’s national leaders in Brussels. “NATO is not part of the conflict … it provides support to Ukraine but isn’t part of the conflict.”
“NATO will not send the troops into Ukraine… It is extremely important to provide support to Ukraine and we are stepping up. But at the same time it is also extremely important to prevent this conflict becoming a full-fledged war between NATO and Russia.”