Saturday, 20 September 2014 15:10

VILNIUS: Nato's top military commanders are meeting in Lithuania on Saturday to discuss relations with Russia as the warring sides in Ukraine agreed to pull back troops under a new peace plan reached overnight in Belarus.

General Knud Bartels, who chairs Nato's Military Committee, said defence chiefs from the 28 nation alliance are set to review "future relationship with Russia and Nato's military posture".

"Central to our discussions will be the development and implementation of the alliance readiness action plan," the Danish general said, referring to the new initiative which includes rotating troops and equipment through facilities in Eastern Europe.

The meeting will also cover Nato's mission in Afghanistan and the situation in the Middle East, including the "pressing threat" from the Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, he added.

The military talks in Lithuania's capital Vilnius focused on defending Nato's eastern flank come just two weeks after Nato announced a new rapid reaction force at a key summit in Wales.

Lithuania said the new measures will also include regional "command and control" centres in the Baltic states and Poland.

These countries were formerly behind the Iron Curtain and are concerned about Russia's territorial ambitions in the wake of the Crimea annexation and the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Addressing the generals, including Nato top commander General Philip Breedlove, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybrauskaite on Saturday insisted the alliance needed to present "a clear deterrence" and that time was of the essence.

"We understand that unpreparedness cannot be our strategic weakness.... Security environment has essentially changed already half a year ago," she said.

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Nato reviews ties with Russia as new truce reached in Ukraine