NATO to boost troops on high alert to over 300,000, says Stoltenberg

Number of troops on high alert would rise seven-fold; change driven by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and aimed at shoring up NATO's eastern flank nearest Russia

NATO will boost the number of troops on high alert by more than sevenfold to over 300,000, its secretary-general said on Monday, as allies prepared to adopt a new strategy describing Moscow as a direct threat four months into the Ukraine war.
 

Russia's February invasion of Ukraine has sparked a major geopolitical shift in the West, prompting once neutral countries Finland and Sweden to apply to join NATO and Ukraine to secure the status of candidate to join the European Union.
 

"Russia has walked away from the partnership and the dialogue that NATO has tried to establish with Russia for