NATO approves ambitious defence plans: 300,000 troops on high readiness

At a summit in Vilnius on Tuesday, the leaders of the North Atlantic Alliance agreed on new ambitious defence plans that reflect the need to combat threats such as Russia and terrorism.

Source: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg; a correspondent of European Pravda

Details: As Stoltenberg announced, NATO Allies approved "the most comprehensive defence plans since the Cold War, addressing the two key threats we face: Russia and terrorism".

Quote from Stoltenberg: "Under the new plans, NATO aims to deploy 300,000 troops in a state of high readiness, including naval and air forces."

Details: To implement the defence plans, NATO leaders also approved a new action plan to boost the defence industry output, and pledged to spend at least 2% of GDP per year on defence, the Secretary General said.

For decades, NATO did not see the need for large-scale defence plans, as it fought small wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and believed that post-Soviet Russia did not pose an existential threat to the Alliance.

But Russia's war against Ukraine has made NATO realise that it needs to have defence plans in place long before a conflict with an adversary like Moscow could break out.

For a while, Türkiye blocked the approval of the Alliance's plans because of language regarding geographical locations such as Cyprus. But at the last minute, Türkiye’s blockade was overcome.

Background: Previously, Stoltenberg announced that the NATO summit in Vilnius would adopt three new regional defence plans to counter the Alliance's two main threats: Russia and terrorism.

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