NATO conducts military drill amid worries US security priorities lie away from Europe
In the run-up to the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Steadfast Dart 2025 exercises comprise about 10,000 military personnel from nine nations as part of NATO’s new Allied Reaction Force.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/02/22/nato-conducts-military-drill-amid-worries-us-security-priorities-lie-away-from-europe
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In the run-up to the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Steadfast Dart 2025 exercises comprise about 10,000 military personnel from nine nations as part of NATO’s new Allied Reaction Force.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/02/22/nato-conducts-military-drill-amid-worries-us-security-priorities-lie-away-from-europe
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
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00:00As the war rages in Ukraine, European states from NATO's Reaction Force are conducting
00:06the force's largest-scale military exercise.
00:10SEDFAST-R25 comprises of 10,000 military personnel from nine nations, including soldiers, sailors
00:17and marines.
00:18It involves 1,500 military vehicles, including battle tanks, rocket launchers, infantry fighting
00:24vehicles, armoured personnel carriers and 17 naval assets, including frigates, destroyers,
00:30submarines and more than 20 aircraft.
00:34Located here between Ukraine and Moldova, close to the Black Sea, this exercise is a
00:39rapid response force ready to be deployed if necessary.
00:43It also represents a significant strengthening of European defence strategy within NATO.
00:49The US has no direct involvement with this exercise, but looming large are comments from
00:54the US President Donald Trump, who said Ukraine bears responsibility for the war it's fighting
00:59on its territory.
01:00But senior military personnel say it's NATO's clear view that the war in the Ukraine was
01:06an attack by Russia.
01:16Lieutenant General Lorenzo D'Addario is the commander of NATO's Rapid Deployable Corps,
01:20a rapid force which can be deployed quickly under the authority of the Supreme Allied
01:25Commander.
01:26It's a completely different scenario that we had up to a few years.
01:33And I think that has prompted us as an alliance to continue to get ready and also to continue
01:38to demonstrate our ability to defend.
01:42Is it your firm belief that this war in Ukraine was unprompted, unprovoked?
01:49Certainly it was unprovoked and certainly it was a war that was an aggression on Ukraine.
01:55There's been a lot of pressure for European countries within NATO to provide more weapons
02:01and more defence.
02:02Has that shown up?
02:03I think all countries that are on NATO are intent in making sure that their defence,
02:10their tools are better tooled and better trained.
02:13This is for sure.
02:14This is what we do as soldiers.
02:16D'Addario says Steadfast AR-25 increases NATO's interoperability, efficiency and resilience
02:22for the serious risks that lie ahead for Europe.
02:25Seona Murray, Rur News, Smardan, Romania.