Azerbaijan participates in NATO exercises in Ukraine?

More than a thousand troops from the United States and its allies will arrive in Ukraine on the joint exercise Rapid Trident. Reuters reported, citing a representative of the United States Army European Command Gregory Hicks.

Originally the exercises that have been held annually were planned for July, but were postponed due to the situation in the east of Ukraine. The decision to hold the doctrine indicates the intention of NATO to support Ukraine without interfering directly in the conflict, the agency said.

The exercise will take place 16-26 September and will be held at the training center of the city Yavor of the Lvov region, near the border with Poland. It is expected that 200 American soldiers will take part in it. In addition, Rapid Trident will involve more than 1,000 soldiers from Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Britain, Canada, Georgia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Romania and Spain.

  On September 4 in Wales will launch the NATO summit. It is expected NATO member states will decide on the creation of new rapid reaction force numbering several thousand troops. "We already have the NATO Response Force - a multinational force that can be deployed anywhere in the world for collective protection. Now they will have a very high degree of readiness and the ability to turn around in a short time," said the NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen yesterday.

As expected, the NATO Response Force will include about 4 thousand military and will be able to respond to a threat within 48 hours.

The press service of the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan told Turan that the participation of Azerbaijani military in the event is scheduled. -02D-