NATO moving to create a rapid-reaction force to protect against Russian aggression in Eastern Europe
News of the planned 'high-readiness' force comes as Ukraine's defense minister warns of a 'great war' with Russia
BY JOEL SIEGEL
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Monday, September 1, 2014, 2:18 PM
Updated: Monday, September 1, 2014, 5:18 PM
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ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP/GETTY IMAGESUkrainian soldiers patrol in the Donetsk area on Monday. Ukraine troops retreated from the Luhansk airport after coming under artillery fire.
In a move with echoes of the Cold War, President Obama and other NATO leaders are creating a rapid-reaction force of 4,000 troops to protect against potential Russian aggression in Eastern Europe, officials said Monday.
News of the planned “high-readiness force” came as Ukraine’s defense minister warned Monday of a “great war” with Russia in which tens of thousands will die.
Obama and the leaders of other NATO nations are expected to approve the formation of the rapid-reaction force when they hold a summit in Wales on Thursday.
The proposal calls for assembling a unit of several thousand troops contributed on a rotating basis by the 28 NATO countries.
Equipment and supplies for the force are to be stockpiled in Eastern Europe “so this force can travel light, but strike hard if needed,” NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.
The plan “ensures that we have the right forces and the right equipment in the right place at the right time,” Rasmussen said. “Not because NATO wants to attack anyone. But because the dangers and the threats are more present and more visible. And we will do what it takes to defend our allies.”
The creation of the force is the most visible reaction yet to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
DMITRY BRUSHKO/APRussian Ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov, right, and pro-Russian rebel leader Andrei Purgin in in Minsk, Belarus, on Monday, as negotiations to end the fighting in Ukraine got under way.
In March, Russian troops seized the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine, and last week, Russian forces streamed across the border again to support pro-Russia rebels.
On Monday, Ukraine said its troops were forced to withdraw from Luhansk airport after being attacked by Russian tanks, and that about 1,600 Russian soldiers were now operating in the country supporting the rebels.
Russia's foreign minister again denied any such military involvement, but Ukraine Defense Minister Valeriy Geletey sounded an alarm on his Facebook page.
"A great war came to our home, one that Europe hasn’t seen since the time of the Second World War,” he said.
“We must urgently build up defenses against Russia, which is trying to not only consolidate the territories previously occupied by the terrorists, but also to advance to other areas in Ukraine.”
The new fighting occurred as fresh negotiations began in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, aimed at easing the conflict.
VALENTYN OGIRENKO/REUTERSUkrainian President Petro Poroshenko watches cadets as they march during Knowledge Day celebrations in Kiev, on Monday. He accused Moscow of "direct and open aggression" against his country.
The pro-Russian rebels retreated from their demand for full independence, saying they would respect Ukraine's sovereignty in exchange for autonomy for southeastern Ukraine.
But it was not clear if the shift would nudge the parties toward compromise. Similar negotiations earlier in the summer ended without any agreement.
The rebels’ more moderate position appeared to reflect a desire by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to avoid new economic sanctions from the West while preserving leverage over its neighbor.
Fighting in eastern Ukraine between the separatists and the government in Kiev began in mid-April, a month after Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine.
The fighting has killed nearly 2,600 people and forced over 340,000 to flee their homes, according to the U.N.
-With News Wire Services
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