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Nato mulls response to Russian actions in Ukraine Ukraine crisis: Nato to bolster defences
(about 7 hours later)
Nato defence ministers are due to discuss for the first time the long-term security implications of Russian actions over Ukraine. Nato has pledged to bolster its defence capabilities in response to Russian actions in Ukraine, but said it would stick to a key agreement with Moscow.
The talks in Brussels will also focus on what action Nato member states should take in response. The Nato announcement came hours after the US president pledged $1bn to boost military deployments to Europe.
Relations between Nato and Moscow plummeted after Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula in March. Russia earlier said it could pull out of the 1997 Nato-Russia Founding Act should there be major Nato deployments in eastern and central Europe.
On Monday, Russia's envoy to the bloc threatened to end a long-standing co-operation treaty with Nato. Nato accuses Russia of backing rebels in Ukraine - a claim denied by Moscow.
A senior Nato official quoted by AFP news agency said defence ministers would be making "fundamental decisions" regarding Russia that would go before Nato leaders at a September summit in the UK. On Tuesday, heavy fighting between Ukrainian government troops and the separatists was reported in and around the rebel-held city of Sloviansk in the east.
Officials said there had been a "frank exchange of views" a during a meeting of the Nato-Russia Council, which groups ambassadors from the 28 member states and Russia, on Monday. In March, the Kremlin annexed Ukraine's southern Crimea peninsula - a move condemned by the West.
Nato states "repeated their very strong and clear position on the illegal and illegitimate annexation" of Crimea, alliance spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said. 'Wake-up call'
They hailed the recent presidential election in Ukraine "as a clear vote for the unity of Ukraine and called on Russia to engage constructively with the newly elected president", she added. Mr Rasmussen said Russia had increased its military spending by 50% in the last five years, while Nato cut funding by 20% over the same period.
Nato also called on Russia "to respect its international commitments, to stop the flow of arms and weapons across the border, to stop supporting armed separatists in Ukraine", she said. "It's unsustainable," the Nato secretary general said after a meeting with defence ministers in Brussels.
"What we've witnessed in Ukraine is a wake-up call," Mr Rasmussen added.
He said the bloc was developing a "readiness action plan", which would involve more joint exercises and also beefing up Nato's cyber defence policy.
Mr Rasmussen also welcomed US President Barack Obama's plans for a $1bn (£600m) fund to increase US military deployments to Europe.
Mr Obama was speaking during a visit to Poland ahead of a meeting with Nato leaders in Brussels to discuss the Ukraine crisis.
"Our commitment to Poland's security as well as the security of our allies in central and eastern Europe is a cornerstone of our own security and it is sacrosanct," Mr Obama said after inspecting a joint unit of US and Polish F-16 pilots.
The programme will still need approval from congress before it goes ahead.
In April, 150 US soldiers were sent to Poland for military exercises amid growing tensions with Russia. They will be joined by a further 450 troops in the coming days.
'Fundamental decisions'
Mr Rasmussen stressed that Nato remained committed to the Founding Act governing the relations between the two sides.
On Monday, Russia's envoy to Nato, Alexandr Grushko, was quoted as saying that Moscow was considering of withdrawing from the co-operation treaty and taking "measures of a military character" should there be major Nato deployments in Europe.
It is the first time the Nato defence ministers have discussed the long-term security implications of Russian actions over Ukraine. The talks will continue on Wednesday.
A senior Nato official quoted by AFP news agency said earlier that the ministers would be making "fundamental decisions" regarding Russia that would go before Nato leaders at a September summit in the UK.
The bloc has already pledged to support the modernisation of Ukraine's armed forces.
Jonathan Marcus, BBC diplomatic correspondent, BrusselsJonathan Marcus, BBC diplomatic correspondent, Brussels
While Nato military commanders believe that the bulk of Russian troops have pulled back from the Ukrainian frontier - and those that remain are getting ready to withdraw - the view here at the alliance headquarters is, as one senior officer put it, that Russia's actions have fundamentally changed the security dynamic in Europe. There is a real sense that something has changed. The Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen put it this way, noting that the Alliance faced "a new security situation in Europe.
The question now is what does Nato do about it, both to caution Russia and to reassure worried members such as the Baltic republics and Poland. So if something has changed the implicit question left hanging in the air is what should Nato do about it? The answer is that it is going to do a lot more of what it has already been doing since Russia's seizure of Crimea. There will be more training and exercises; readiness levels will be improved; and Nato will seek some additional resources.
Small additional military deployments have been made but Nato ministers will be discussing what should be done in the future in the way of stepping up exercises and deployments. Once planning is more advanced, the proposals will go for approval to the next Nato summit in Wales in September. Barack Obama's message - the US is leading from the front.
Russia's ambassador to Nato, Alexander Grushko, later told Interfax news agency that Moscow might pull out of the Founding Act - a co-operation treaty with Nato - and take "measures of a military character". But this is not about a return to the Cold War. Nobody in Nato, not even the Americans, have either the appetite or the resources for a major European defence build-up. But certain Nato allies are worried, so something has to be done.

"We shall wait and see what the ministers decide," he said.
"But if it means additional deployment of substantial Nato military assets in central and eastern Europe, and we are hearing calls for just that, then even if it takes place as a troops rotation we will have difficulty viewing it as anything other than a direct breach of obligations in the fundamental Russia-Nato documents including the Founding Act."
He added: "All this could cast Europe back to the days of the Cold War and launch an arms race."
Nato defence spending targetsNato defence spending targets
Nato's members have a target of spending 2% of their GDP on defence.Nato's members have a target of spending 2% of their GDP on defence.
Countries that met or exceeded the target in 2013 included:Countries that met or exceeded the target in 2013 included:
Countries that spent less than the target in 2013 included:Countries that spent less than the target in 2013 included:
Overall, European members of Nato spent 1.6 %.Overall, European members of Nato spent 1.6 %.
Source: NatoSource: Nato
Kiev and the West have accused Russia of stirring up separatist sentiment in parts of eastern Ukraine where the majority are Russian-speaking.
Russia, which denies the claims, is seeking an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to call for an immediate end to fighting in east Ukraine.
On Monday, hundreds of heavily armed insurgents resumed a sustained assault on a border guards' command post near the city of Luhansk.
Nato ministers, who are holding two days of talks in Brussels, will also discuss the end of the combat mission in Afghanistan and US plans to train and advise Afghan forces after 2014.