NATO activates response force for first time as a result of Russia’s Ukraine invasion

“There must be no space for miscalculation or misunderstanding,” he told reporters in Brussels. “We will do what it takes to protect and defend every ally and every inch of NATO territory.”

The virtual summit, which President Biden attended from the White House Situation Room, was called to coordinate the 30-member alliance’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In televised remarks Thursday, Biden pledged to “defend every inch of NATO territory with the full force of American power,” saying the alliance was “more united and determined than ever.”

But the organization, formed to provide collective security against the Soviet Union, is also being tested as it charts a path forward while being pulled into a faceoff with Russia.

“The Kremlin’s aim is to reestablish its sphere of influence. Rip up the global rules that have kept us all safe for decades, and subvert the values that we hold dear,” Stoltenberg said Thursday. “This is the new normal for our security.”

What is NATO, and what is its role in the Russia-Ukraine crisis?

Ukraine is not a NATO member — and the alliance’s refusal to rule out future membership is something that Russia has used to justify attacks — but the organization sees the invasion as a threat to Europe.

On Friday, NATO started to sketch out a response. Stoltenberg said the United States, Canada and European countries had already moved thousands of troops to Eastern Europe and put more than 100 planes on alert. More than 120 ships are operating from northern Europe to the Mediterranean.

The number of troops activated under the response force would be less than its total size, some 40,000 members, Stoltenberg said, noting that the deployment would include some troops assigned to a special “high readiness” task force. The response force was declared operational in 2006 and enlarged after 2014.

Stoltenberg said NATO leaders also discussed plans for ongoing military support to Ukraine, including air defense equipment, but provided no further details.

Biden stressed Thursday that the United States will not send troops to Ukraine. “Our forces are not going to Europe to fight in Ukraine, but to defend our NATO allies,” he said.

James Heappey, who serves as Britain’s parliamentary undersecretary of state for the armed forces, said Friday that British and NATO troops should not play an active role in Ukraine because “people miscalculate, and things escalate unnecessarily,” according to Reuters.

What NATO members have sent Ukraine so far

After an emergency meeting Thursday, NATO’s political decision-making body, the North Atlantic Council, said the alliance may bolster its eastern flank in the days and weeks ahead, but it declined to spell out when or where.

As NATO hashes out plans, there is likely to be tension between Eastern European states that want the alliance to do more and other members, such as France, that tend to push for European self-defense.

A group of Eastern European countries — including Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania — called this week for alliance consultations under Article 4 of NATO’s charter, which allows any member to request a meeting when its territorial integrity or political independence is threatened.