NATO agrees to form joint rapid-action force

Alliance agrees at UK summit to establish a “spearhead force” able to be deployed in a short time, NATO chief says.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the NATO secretary-general, has said that the military alliance has agreed a readiness action plan to strengthen the organisation’s capabilities, including the establishment of a rapid-action force.

The development comes on a busy day in terms of diplomacy for the Ukraine crisis, with NATO leaders holding the second day of a summit in Wales and ceasefire talks scheduled to take place in the Belarusian capital.

Speaking at a news conference in Newport, Wales, Rasmussen said: “We agreed to form a spearhead force to be able to be deployed in short time.”

“This will include land troops ready to deploy in a few days supported by air and sea.”

He added that NATO will also form a command centre in eastern allied territory.

In what he said was a message to potential aggressors, Rasmussem said the measures were being implemented: “So we can deal swiftly and firmly with threats.

“If you threaten one ally, you will face the whole alliance … NATO remains strong ready and responsive for future challenges wherever they may come from.”

On Thursday, Rasmussen had told the Kremlin to pull back Russian troops from Ukraine and to stop supporting rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and the main pro-Russian rebel leader said they would both order ceasefires on Friday, provided that an agreement is reached on a new peace plan in Minsk to end the five-month war in Ukraine’s east.

The annoucements came after a week in which the pro-Moscow separatists scored major victories with what NATO says is the open support of thousands of Russian troops and armour.

Speaking on the sidelines of the NATO summit near the Welsh city of Newport, Poroshenko said the ceasefire would be conditional on the planned meeting going ahead in Minsk of envoys from Ukraine, Russia and Europe’s OSCE security and rights watchdog.

“At 14:00 local time [11:00 GMT on Friday], provided the meeting takes place, I will call on the general staff to set up a bilateral ceasefire and we hope that the implementation of the peace plan will begin tomorrow,” he told reporters.