NATO won’t be ‘dragged into arms race’

BRUSSELS: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday the alliance will not get dragged into an arms race with Russia but must counter Moscow’s “aggressive actions” in Ukraine.
Defense ministers are due to approve measures including more than doubling NATO’s rapid response force, while the US on Tuesday announced it would pre-position heavy weapons on the alliance’s eastern flank.
Russia has denounced the moves as Cold War-style provocations while upgrading its own armed forces, including with more than 40 new nuclear ballistic missiles this year.
“We will not be dragged into an arms race but we must keep our countries safe,” Stoltenberg said as the meeting opened at NATO HQ in Brussels.
“What Russia has done in Ukraine is not defensive; to annex (Crimea)... that is an act of aggression.”
Stoltenberg played down fears of a return to the worst days of the Cold War, insisting NATO’s response was “defensive, proportionate and in line with all our international obligations.” “Russia continues to send troops, forces and supplies into eastern Ukraine. There is no doubt that Russia is responsible for aggressive actions in Europe,” he said.
If the 28-member alliance had not responded, then that would have been cause for concern, he said, adding that NATO “continues to strive for more constructive relations with Russia.”
Russia denies that it is directly involved in the 15-month conflict in Ukraine which has cost 6,500 lives.
In the fallout from the crisis, NATO has adopted a series of measures to give it a very high-speed reaction unit, on top of a fast response force which will be increased to about 40,000 troops from 13,000.
Exercises have been stepped up, planes and ships deployed to reassure nervous allies in eastern Europe once ruled from Moscow, and commitments made to reinforce the message that NATO is ready to meet its commitment to defend any ally under attack.
US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Tuesday that Washington would pre-position heavy weapons in central and eastern Europe to ensure any NATO troops responding to a fresh crisis would hit the ground running.