Nato plans to boost eastern flank with a permanent military presence

Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato chief, has revealed plans to deploy a permanent military presence sufficient to repel a Russian invasion.

In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Telegraph, on April 10, Jens Stoltenberg said Nato was “in the midst of a very fundamental transformation” that will reflect “the long-term consequences” of Vladimir Putin’s actions.

Nato is drawing up plans to deploy a permanent full-scale military force on its border in an effort to combat future Russian aggression following the invasion of Ukraine, the alliance’s secretary-general revealed.

As part of a major “reset”, the current, relatively small, “tripwire” presence on the alliance’s eastern flank will be replaced with sufficient forces to repel an attempted invasion of member states such as Estonia and Latvia.

Options for the reset are being developed by Nato military commanders, The Sunday Telegraph reported.

Stoltenberg´s revelations came as Boris Johnson made an unexpected visit to Kyiv on Saturday to hold talks with Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president.

The Prime Minister used the visit to announce that Britain was sending anti-ship missiles and 120 armoured vehicles in the latest batch of military assistance.

Setting out plans for the “reset” of Nato, Stoltenberg stressed that Nato already has 40,000 troops under its direct command in the eastern part of the alliance – nearly 10 times the number it had a few months before the invasion of Ukraine.

“What we see now is a new reality, a new normal for European security.

“Therefore, we have now asked our military commanders to provide options for what we call a reset, a longer-term adaptation of Nato.

“I expect that Nato leaders will make decisions on this when they meet in Madrid at the Nato summit in June,” Stoltenberg said.

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