NATO deploys troops to eastern flank as Russian attack escalates in Ukraine

NATO has deployed parts of its response force to its eastern flank, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine extends Moscow’s military power to the borders of several of the alliance’s member states.

It is the first time the treaty's response force has been used for collective security, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters on Friday.

“We are deploying elements of the NATO Response Force on land, at sea and in the air to further strengthen our posture and to respond quickly to any contingency,” Stoltenberg said, adding that countries bordering the conflict in Ukraine are “extremely concerned.”

“This goes far beyond Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said. “This is about how Russia is actually challenging, contesting core values for our security.”

President Joe Biden was among the NATO heads of state who met Friday morning to coordinate the treaty organization's next moves as Russian President Vladimir Putin pushes forward with his full assault on his western neighbor. Russian forces encircled and entered Kyiv on Friday, prompting Ukrainian citizens to take up arms and braced for an intense battle. The NATO deployment along its eastern flank also comes as the U.S. warned that Moscow’s ultimate goal is “decapitating the government” in Kyiv and establishing a Russian-backed government in Ukraine’s capital.

“President Putin has failed in his goal of dividing the West. NATO is as united and resolute as it’s ever been, and NATO will maintain its Open Door to those European states who share our values and who one day may seek to join our Alliance. As we navigate this crisis, we pledged to work even more closely together in our defense of freedom and the democratic values that imbue our Alliance with purpose and power,” the White House said in a statement.

NATO said it will continue to deploy troops as necessary to “ensure strong and credible deterrence and defence across the Alliance, now and in the future.”

”Our measures are and remain preventive, proportionate and non-escalatory,” the statement said.

Stoltenberg didn’t specify the number of troops who would be deployed in this first round but said he’s talking about “thousands of troops.” NATO’s response force, comprised of 40,000 troops, has tripled in size since 2014, the year Putin first invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea.

Biden approved the deployment of an additional 7,000 U.S. troops to Germany on Thursday, bringing the total of American forces sent to Europe to 12,000 this month. The troops will include an armored brigade combat team with “associated capabilities and enablers,” the Defense Department said Thursday. The president has repeatedly said he’s not sending American troops to fight in Ukraine, but instead that the U.S. soldiers will be in place to reassure NATO allies.

Stoltenberg also said NATO allies during Friday’s summit said they were ready to continue providing military, financial and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. Biden said he conveyed this message in a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy following the meeting.

“I commended the brave actions of the Ukrainian people who were fighting to defend their country. I also conveyed ongoing economic, humanitarian, and security support being provided by the United States as well as our continued efforts to rally other countries to provide similar assistance,” Biden said in the White House statement.