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June 22nd, 2015 
David Schulberg 
NATO’s rapid response Spearhead Force in Europe might reach 40,000 troops, a tenfold growth from the initial 4,000-strong force deployed last year, the military alliance’s chief said. Most of these troops will be stationed near Russian borders.
“NATO defense ministers … [will] make a decision to further
increase the strength and capacity of the 13,000-strong NATO
Response Force (NRF) to 30,000 or 40,000 troops,”
Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday.
The decision is to be officially announced during NATO’s defense
ministers meeting on June 24-25 in Brussels.
The troops will be under the command of 6 HQs to be stationed in
Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania. The
Spearhead Force will include Special Forces and rapid response
teams, enforced with marine and air components.
A new rapid reaction force ready to be deployed within 48 hours
was initially intended to consist of 4,000 troops.
READ MORE: At least 4,000 troops: NATO approves
new E. Europe-based spearhead force
The Spearhead Force has already held its first military drills
codenamed Noble Jump in Poland. The war games became “the
biggest reinforcement” of defense since Cold War times, said
Stoltenberg, adding that the alliance is facing challenges from
“the behavior of a more assertive” Russia.
Last week, Stoltenberg criticized Russia for announced plans to
add to its nuclear arsenal 40 newly made intercontinental
ballistic missiles in 2015.
READ
MORE: NATO conducting biggest beef up of defenses since Cold War
– alliance chief
“This nuclear saber-rattling of Russia is unjustified. It’s
destabilizing and it’s dangerous. This is something which we are
addressing, and it’s also one of the reasons we are now
increasing the readiness and preparedness of our forces,”
Stoltenberg said during a news briefing in Brussels last Tuesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin made the announcement about
further development of the strategic nuclear armed forces in
response to a report that the US is seriously considering
deployment of heavy weapons to new NATO member states on
permanent basis.
READ MORE: Moscow will respond to NATO approaching
Russian borders ‘accordingly’ – Putin
The chill in Russia-US relations already resemble the worst years
of the Cold War, yet experts warn that further escalation of the
Ukrainian crisis could lead to an open standoff between Moscow
and Washington.
If Washington opts to send armaments to Kiev authorities, as some
Republicans congressmen want, Moscow would react immediately,
experts quoted in US media believe.
Washington should pursue a diplomatic solution for its conflict
with Russia, former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul told
The New York Times.
“The US-Russia conflict is not going to be resolved in weeks
or months,” McFaul said. “This challenge will take
years, even decades.”
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NATO plans 40,000-strong rapid response force in E. Europe
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