Eurasia Press & News
Nato is to form a 4,000 strong spearhead force designed to go into action in 48 hours in response to Russian intervention in Ukraine. Stockpiles of military equipment will be stored at bases in Eastern Europe for the troops to use when they go into operation.The mission, which is expected to have a sizeable British contingent, is due to be unveiled at the Nato summit in Wales later this week. It will include special forces, air, naval and intelligence detachments which will deploy alongside the soldiers of the host nation against an outside threat.
The Alliance has not named Russia as the threat against whom the measures are being taken and has stressed that it can be deployed anywhere in the world. But it will be working alongside the Readiness Action Plan which will have bases, it is believed, in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania.
The deployment is certain to be seen as provocative by the Kremlin. Under the 1997 Founding Act, which was viewed as ending the Cold War, Nato pledged to Boris Yeltsin’s government that it would not have a permanent troop presence in any of the former Warsaw Pact states.
Nato insists that the bases do not break the pact as they are not permanent, but they will be there `for as long as it takes’. A senior official stated: `We have been through this thoroughly, taken extensive legal advice, and this is not in breach of the Act. There will not be permanent presence in these bases, there will not, for example, be personnel stationed there with their families.’
The force is part of a raft of measures being taken by Nato to sharpen up its reaction since the Ukraine crisis began in February. Since then, Crimea has been annexed by Vladimir Putin’s government and separatist forces, with Russian backing, are engaged in an increasingly violent civil war in the east of the country.
