Following the news that the NATO rapid reaction force is to be expanded from 40,000 troops to 300,000 troops at high readiness levels;

Madeline Wild, Associate Defense Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view:

“The plan to drastically increase the number of troops deployed as part of the rapid reaction force has been announced at a time when Russia is making advances in Ukraine and has launched new missile strikes against Ukrainian cities. NATO’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg described the battle group enhancements to strengthen regional security due to the direct threat posed by Russia.

“As Western leaders meet at the G7 and NATO summit this week, Russia is making gains in eastern Ukraine and has issued threats to Baltic states imposing restrictions on trade access to Kaliningrad. The Baltic states rely heavily on NATO for upholding their security, due to their limited defense budget sizes. Whilst NATO’s deployment of extra troops to the rapid reaction force is not a direct reaction to the recent changes in the conflict, the decision to do so will have been influenced by it. The announcements from NATO show an organisation committed to supporting Ukraine and bolstering European security as the conflict enters its fifth month.”