Friday, 8 July 2016

Prime Minister David Cameron joined other world leaders at the Nato summit in Warsaw

Prime Minister David Cameron joined other world leaders at the Nato summit in Warsaw
Mr Fallon said Russia President Vladimir Putin was "trying to change international borders by force".

"I think he is flexing his muscles," he said.

"He wants Russia to be treated as the world power it used to be and that's why an alliance like Nato is very, very important, that we stand together."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow would be watching the Nato summit "very closely".

"Nato soldiers are by our borders and Nato planes are there, we're not the ones getting closer to Nato's borders," he said.
Spending commitment

The BBC's defence and diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus said tensions between Nato and Moscow were "growing again".

"The aim at this summit is to try to convince the Russians that Nato means business; that after years of being more focussed on 'out of area' operations - Afghanistan and so on - Nato nations are now serious about their collective defence," he said.

"That means money and presence."

The UK is also to take over the leadership of Nato's Very High Readiness Joint Task Force in 2017, which will see 3,000 troops based in the UK and Germany join a 5,000-strong unit ready to move with as little as five days' notice.

It will involve the 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade, an armoured infantry battle group from the 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment and a light infantry battle group from the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards.

The prime minister is also to announce that Britain is to extend the deployment of four RAF Typhoon fighters with the Baltic Air Policing Mission.

And Mr Cameron, who is to stand down in September following the UK vote to leave the EU, will use his final Nato summit to underline the government's continuing commitment to meet the alliance's target of spending 2% of GDP on defence.

Formed in 1949 to counter the threat of post-war communist expansion as the Soviet Union sought to extend its influence in Europe, Nato - the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation - is the world's most powerful regional defence alliance and has a membership of 28 countries.

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