NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has informed the EU defense ministers about what measures the alliance has already taken and will take to further strengthen collective defense at sea, in the air and on land in connection with the crisis in Ukraine, the alliance's press service has reported.
“These measures will follow three tracks: re-enforced defense plans,
enhanced exercises and appropriate deployments,” Rasmussen said in
Luxembourg on Tuesday, where he attended a meeting of the EU Foreign
Affairs Council at the level of defense ministers of the EU countries.
He said that the events in Ukraine had confirmed the need to
strengthen cooperation between NATO, the European Union and the
alliance’s closest partners.
“We need to train and exercise more together, for instance, the NATO
Response Force and the EU Battle Groups, so that we stand ready for
whatever the future may bring,” Rasmussen said.
The NATO chief expressed his deep concern “over the continued
violence by small groups of separatists and Russia’s continued military
pressure on Ukraine’s border.”
“I call on Russia to de-escalate the crisis, to pull back its troops
from Ukraine’s borders, to stop de-stabilizing the situation in Ukraine,
and make clear that it doesn’t support the violent actions of
pro-Russian separatists,” Rasmussen said.
He said that “Russia should stop being part of the problem, and start being part of the solution.”
