[NY Times] The secretary general of NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said on Wednesday that the alliance was considering providing assistance to Ukraine to help deter Russia from another military intervention there.
"We have intensive consultations with the Ukrainians right now," Mr. Rasmussen said during an appearance at the Brookings Institution. "I agree that we should step up our assistance to Ukraine, and I am sure it will happen."
He noted that Ukraine had requested the aid, and that decisions on what to provide would be made at a meeting of the alliance's foreign ministers on April 1-2.
Mr. Rasmussen did not say what help might be provided now that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has sent troops to Crimea and positioned other forces near eastern Ukraine. But other Western officials said that Ukraine was seeking communications gear, mine-clearing equipment, vehicles, ammunition, fuel and medical gear, and the sharing of intelligence. |