NATO to bolster ranks, help Ukraine counter chemical attack

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says U.S. President Joe Biden and his counterparts are ready to order more forces into Eastern Europe to deter Russia from invading any member of their ranks

BRUSSELS -- NATO leaders are set to agree to station more forces in Eastern Europe to deter Russia from invading any member of their ranks and to send equipment to Ukraine to help it defend against chemical or biological attacks, the organization's top civilian official said Wednesday.

Speaking on the eve of a series of Brussels summits focusing on the war in Ukraine, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said four new battlegroups, which usually number between 1,000-1,500 troops, are being set up in Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria.

Stoltenberg said the forces will remain in place "as long as necessary.” NATO currently has around 40,000 troops from several nations under its command, a number almost tenfold higher than it was a few months ago, military commanders say.

“Along with our existing forces in the Baltic countries and Poland, this means that we will have eight multinational NATO battlegroups all along the eastern flank, from the Baltic to the Black Sea,” Stoltenberg said. The alliance also has 140 warships at sea and 130 aircraft on high alert.