NATO Tries to Calm Russia on Troops

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization confirmed that it does not plan to base large numbers of foreign combat troops in former Warsaw Pact countries that join the Western alliance. The move was designed to calm Russian fears about NATO’s expansion plans. “In the current and foreseeable security environment” NATO does not intend any “additional permanent stationing of substantial combat forces,” the alliance said in a statement issued in Brussels. Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin had earlier expressed fears that NATO’s eastward shift would lead to a military buildup along Russia’s borders.