Russia risk: NATO agrees to boost defences in eastern Europe

NATO agreed Thursday to dramatically boost its defences with six command centres in eastern Europe and a spearhead force of 5,000 troops, to counter what the alliance called Russian aggression in Ukraine. Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg insisted that the increase approved by defence ministers in Brussels was purely defensive, but it is likely to rile a Moscow that is more wary than ever of Western military intentions.
"This is the biggest reinforcement of our collective defence since the end of the Cold War," Stoltenberg told the ministers. He said the decision to step up the 28-nation group's defences to the east were "as a response to the aggressive actions we have seen from Russia, violating international law and annexing Crimea."
France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland and Britain agreed to take the lead in forming the spearhead rapid reaction force, which would be available to deploy within a week in a crisis, Stoltenberg said. The six "command and control" centres that will help the deployment of the force will be in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, with a corps headquarters in Szczecin, Poland, he added.
All six countries were formerly in the orbit of the Soviet Union and have voiced deep concern about Russia's actions in Ukraine. NATO is also set to boost its wider response force - which would take weeks or months to deploy in a crisis - from 13,000 to 30,000 troops. Moscow has long been wary of NATO's relations with its former allies, especially in the case of Kiev's new pro-Western president Petro Poroshenko, who has said he wants Ukraine to join the alliance. Russian foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said earlier Thursday that Moscow would "fully consider such decisions in our military planning" after reviewing the details.
He said Moscow was "deeply concerned" about the plan because "it is nothing else but a build-up of military capacities of the alliance" near Russia's borders. NATO accuses Russia of sending troops and equipment to support separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine who have been fighting troops loyal to the western-backed government since April, with the loss of nearly 5,400 lives. The Kremlin denies giving any backing to the rebels.