Today in Brussels, at NATO Headquarters, NATO General Secretary, Jens Stoltenberg announced that 27 of the 30 member nations have decided to send NATO troops into Ukraine. “With evidence of Russian war crimes against Ukrainian civilians and the discovery of mass graves outside Kiev, its clear that Russia, under the leadership of President Vladimir Putin, has now essentially declared war on human dignity. It thus is our moral obligation to act and stop these atrocities.” Stoltenberg went on to explain that there were no plans for NATO troops to directly engage with Russian troops in combat but that NATO troops would free up Ukrainian Troops in Western Ukraine. “Our mission is clear, NATO troops will be deployed in Ukraine and this will enable Ukrainian soldiers in the western part of the country to move to the fronts. NATO will guard territory far from the front. This will do two things, first guard and protect supplies entering Ukraine from Poland from Russian attacks, and second allow Ukraine to use their entire military against Russia. Ukraine will no longer need to guard far flung airbases or warehouses, this is now NATO’s responsibility.”
The White House then made a statement saying that all NATO leaders discussed this plan today over a conference call and it was decided that each member state could decide to take part in the plan or remain out of the conflict. All members except Turkey, Iceland, and France have pledged to take part. The White House made it clear that American troops would not engage in combat against Russian forces and that only American air units would engage in the plan. American fighter jets will patrol the skies of Western Ukraine and keep all Russian planes at bay. Meanwhile President Biden stressed that no American planes would be based in Ukraine and all activities will take place out of Poland and Bulgaria. With the Bulgarian Air Force aiding and accompanying American sorties.
However Downing Street today announced a more expensive and militaristic plan. British ground forces will take positions near Ukraine airfields and Ukraine fuel depots with anti air units to defend vital supply areas. These units would be made up of some of the most elite and best qualified British soldiers in the modern British military. Meanwhile Canadian, Belgian, Dutch, and Italian forces will aid Ukrainian police in keeping order on the streets of Western Ukrainian cities. German, Polish, Spanish, Czech, Lithuanian and Latvian troops would take part in guarding supply convoys and Norwegian, Portuguese, Danish, and Estonian troops would guard communication locations and government buildings. NATO sources say roughly 25,000 troops in total will take part. Meanwhile Greek, Albanian, Romanian, and Slovanian navy ships will patrol the Black Sea waters of Ukraine that remain unoccupied.
President Biden said he will be talking to Congressional Leaders tomorrow and Prime Minister Johnson said he will address Parliament on Thursday about the deployments. Both leaders stressed they want their legislative bodies to approve further military capabilities and to help establish a “demilitarized zone” across Central Ukraine. The UN meanwhile has started writing up a cease fire agreement in hopes the conflict can end soon.
Recent NATO decisions have caused chaos on the financial markets today as the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 1020 points before the final bell and the NASDAQ fell 1590 points. Meanwhile markets in London and Hong Kong also fell massively which has caused the Tokyo market to announce they won’t be trading tomorrow and the Japanese Central Bank has already announced restrictions on the amount of paper money people can pull from their accounts.
The recent news was not covered in Moscow and no comments were made by the Kremlin. Pope Francis meanwhile encouraged all Christians to pray for peace and told leaders to “Avoid acting irrationally..”