BRUSSELS - U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts agreed Friday to reassure member countries on the alliance’s eastern flank by sending parts of the organization’s response force to help protect them following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.With Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealing for help, NATO members ranging from Russia’s neighbor Estonia in the north down to Bulgaria on the Black Sea coast triggered urgent consultations about their security.
Only Hungary refrained.The leaders, meeting via videoconference, took stock of NATO’s own military buildup.Speaking after chairing the summit, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the leaders decided to send parts of the NATO Response Force and elements of a quickly deployed spearhead unit to member nations in Europe.He did not say how many troops would be deployed, but confirmed that the move would involve land, sea and air power.RELATED: Ukraine capital of Kyiv under threat as Russia presses invasionThe NRF can number up to 40,000 troops, but Stoltenberg said that NATO would not be deploying the entire force.
Parts of a force known in NATO jargon as the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), which is currently led by France, will also be sent."We are now deploying the NATO Response Force for the first time in a collective defense context.
We speak about thousands of troops. We speak about air and maritime capabilities," Stoletenberg said.NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a press conference after a NATO video summit on Russia invasion of Ukraine at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on February 25, 2022.