MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The United Kingdom has taken over from Spain as commander of NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), putting 3,000 British soldiers on stand-by and ready to deploy within days, the UK defense chief said Wednesday.
"In heading up the VJTF, the UK is taking another leading position in NATO and is sending a clear message that Britain is stepping up to our global defense commitments," Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said.
Leading the VJTF force is the first of UK activities aimed at increasing its leadership role in the NATO military bloc, the British government said. It will also send a battalion to Estonia in early 2017 and deploy a company to Poland.
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