Russia’s Crimea takeover prompts NATO plan for ‘spearhead’ force

NATO leaders will respond to the Ukraine crisis by agreeing this week to create a “spearhead” rapid reaction force that could be sent to a hotspot in as little as two days, officials said on Monday. The 28-nation alliance already has a rapid reaction force but U.S. President Barack Obama and other leaders meeting for a NATO summit in Wales on Thursday and Friday are expected to create a new force that would be able to respond more quickly to a crisis. The speed with which Russian forces infiltrated Ukraine’s Crimea region has focused minds at NATO on speeding up its ability to respond if a similar crisis ever occurred on NATO territory.

This spearhead would be provided by allies in rotation, and could include several thousand troops, ready to respond where needed with air, sea and special forces support.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen

NATO Europe