Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is due to update world leaders on negotiations with Russia before a NATO summit begins in Wales. There, the alliance will discuss greater protection for Eastern Europe, reports GHN based dw.de
The two-day NATO summit begins on Thursday in Newport, Wales. The military alliance is considering the creation of a rapid reaction force, potentially including several thousand troops that could be sent to a crisis zone in as little as two days.
The summit will largely focus on the Ukraine crisis and stepping up protection in Eastern Europe, with leaders looking to show a united front against aggression from Moscow.
The alliance is searching for a way to reassure its Eastern members without provoking the Kremlin. On Wednesday, the US President Barack Obama announced a greater US military presence in the Baltics, to calm nerves over the Russian-backed military intervention in eastern Ukraine.
Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron penned a joint opinion piece in The Times newspaper on Thursday, vowing to support Kyiv.
"Russia has ripped up the rulebook with its illegal, self-declared annexation of Crimea and its troops on Ukrainian soil threatening and undermining a sovereign nation state. We should support Ukraine's right to determine its own democratic future and continue our efforts to enhance Ukrainian capabilities," the two leaders wrote.