North Atlantic Treaty Organization Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana told the AFP News Agency on Sunday that the treaty organization has "no restrictions" on the number of troops it can deploy to eastern Europe in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"They [Russia] took decisions, they made obligations there not to aggress neighbors, which they are doing, and to have regular consultations with NATO, which they don't," Geoana told the news outlet during an interview Sunday. "Now we have no restrictions to have robust posture in the eastern flank and to ensure that every square inch of NATO's territory is protected by Article 5 and our allies."
Article 5 of NATO states that an attack on one member nation is considered an attack on all members, according to the organization.
According to Geoana, Russia violated the 1997 Founding Act, which was designed to prevent a build-up of troops in central and eastern Europe by promising to not make aggressive moves, such as the Ukrainian invasion, and to regularly talk with NATO.
During a speech Sunday at NATO's spring session Parliamentary Assembly, he said that Russian President Vladimir "Putin's war against Ukraine has shattered peace in Europe and shaken the entire international order."
"Russia's brutality knows no bounds. It is destroying the lives and livelihoods of millions of Ukrainians," he said. "And it has lasting repercussions that threaten the peace and stability in Europe and beyond. Putin's war has triggered the largest humanitarian crises in Europe in decades. It threatens even greater humanitarian and food crisis well beyond Europe's borders."
He said that the organization has "significantly stepped up" its "deterrence and defense" since Russia's Feb. 24 invasion, and now has more than 40,000 troops under direct NATO command in the region, backed up by naval and air assets with another 100,000 troops "on high alert."
"At the Madrid Summit, our leaders will take important decisions to enhance our force posture further on the whole of the eastern flank," he said. "This is deterrence and removing any shadow of a doubt and leaving no room for misunderstanding or miscalculation in Moscow. Not to provoke conflict, but to prevent conflict and preserve peace."
The organization started shortly after World War II in 1949 to protect western nations against the Russian threat of communism and nuclear war, and it now has 30 member nations.
Article 5 has only been invoked once in history following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, in New York and Washington, D.C., according to the organization.
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