NATO said on Wednesday it will deploy additional air, sea and land forces in eastern Europe in response to the worsening crisis in Ukraine and will take further action if needed. “Today we have agreed a package of military measures,” NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen said after a meeting of ambassadors of all 28 members of the transatlantic alliance.
“We will have more planes in the air, more ships on the water... And more readiness on the land,” he said, adding that NATO defence plans will be “reviewed and reinforced”. The announcement came as Ukrainian and pro-Russian forces faced off and after President Vladimir Putin warned the country was on the brink of civil war, stoking fears of outright Russian intervention.