The forces will be earmarked for the defence of Estonia, where Britain already has about 1,700 personnel, but based in the UK, ready to fly out to the Baltic country if necessary.
Speaking at the Nato summit in Madrid, Ben Wallace said the UK would "allocate a brigade" to Estonia, increasing the number of British troops available to about 3,000. He added that it would be more efficient to base some of the force at home and their equipment in Germany.
The commitment forms part of Nato's revamped European defence force, comprising 300,000 troops at high readiness in case Russia threatened to attack any member country.
It came as Joe Biden announced that the US will increase its military forces across Europe. Arriving in Madrid, the US president announced the stationing of a 3,000 troops in Romania, two F-35 fighter squadrons in the UK and two destroyers in Spain.
This story is from the June 30, 2022 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the June 30, 2022 edition of The Guardian.
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