NATO vastly expands troops at high readiness for long-term Russian threat

FILE PHOTO: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg addresses the troops as part of a military exercise called "Cold Response 2022", gathering around 30,000 troops from NATO member countries plus Finland and Sweden, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at a base in Bardufoss in the Arctic Circle, Norway, March 25, 2022. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo

NATO agreed on Wednesday to put over 300,000 troops at high readiness from 2023, up from 40,000 previously, a new military line-up designed to better counter Russia, the country the alliance has designated as posing the greatest threat.

The move replaces the NATO Response Force, which was for years the first to respond to any Russian attack or other crisis. The new model resembles the way NATO forces were organised during the Cold War.