Ukraine crisis: NATO to create 'high-readiness force,' secretary-general says
- NEW: NATO leader: New unit will "travel light, but strike hard if needed"
- A battle is under way at the airport of the eastern city of Luhansk, Ukrainian officials say
- Moscow asks Ukrainian military to retreat from civilian locations
- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov calls for talks, not threats of sanctions
Kiev, Ukraine (CNN) -- NATO members meeting this week in Wales are expected to create "a very high-readiness force" to deal with Russian aggression in Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Monday.
In a speech on the NATO website, Rasmussen said the fighting force will be part of an overall "Readiness Action Plan (that) responds to Russia's aggressive behavior -- but it equips the alliance to respond to all security challenges, wherever they may arise."
NATO will also look at possible upgrades to infrastructure that could include airfields and ports, he said.
Rasmussen called the new unit "a spearhead within our Response Force" that can "travel light, but strike hard if needed."
It would include several thousand troops and respond with air, sea and special forces support, he said.
"At the summit, we will meet with (President Petro Poroshenko) of Ukraine and make clear our support for Ukraine, as it is confronted by Russia's aggression," Rasmussen said.
Also on Monday, UK Prime Minister David Cameron told Parliament that the presence of Russian soldiers on Ukraine soil is completely unjustified and unacceptable.
"Russia appears to be trying to force to Ukraine to abandon its democratic choices through the barrel of a gun," he said.
Cameron said new sanctions measures will be drawn up by the EU within a week.
Ukraine airfield attack reported
A Russian army tank attacked airfields in eastern Ukraine on Monday, Ukrainian military officials said, amid worsening tensions between Kiev and Moscow.
A battle is under way at the airport of the eastern city of Luhansk, Ukrainian counter terrorism officials said.
Shortly before the attack, Russia urged the Ukrainian military to retreat from civilian locations in the east, saying pro-Moscow separatists in the region will not disarm for fear of getting killed.
The same day, Ukraine said one of its patrol boats was capsized and two of its crew are missing off the coast of the city of Mariupol. Officials did not say who was behind the attack.
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Ukrainian troops evacuate from the rebel-held town of Starobesheve, eastern Ukraine, on Saturday, August 30. Ukrainian government forces have been battling pro-Russian rebels near Ukraine's eastern border with Russia. The fighting has left more than 2,000 people dead since mid-April, according to estimates from U.N. officials.
A Ukrainian loyalist fighter from the Azov Battalion stands guard on a hill on the outskirts of Mariupol on August 30.
A pro-Russian rebel listens to the news on a transistor radio in the town of Novoazovsk, in eastern Ukraine, on Friday, August 29.
Ukrainian soldiers stop on a roadside as they wait for the start of their march into Mariupol, Ukraine, on Wednesday, August 27.
A man opens a box on August 27 filled with rocket-propelled grenades left by the Ukrainian army in Starobecheve, Ukraine, after pro-Russian forces took control of the town.
A pro-Russian rebel walks through a local market damaged by shelling in Donetsk, Ukraine, on Tuesday, August 26.
Ukrainian servicemen of the volunteer battalion Azov leave for Novoazovsk, Ukraine, on August 26.
Pro-Russian separatists escort captured Ukrainian army soldiers in a central square in Donetsk, Ukraine, on Sunday, August 24.
People yell as Ukrainian prisoners are paraded through Donetsk in eastern Ukraine on August 24.
A pro-Russian rebel delivers a speech atop a damaged Ukrainian armored personnel carrier in Donetsk on August 24. Ukraine has recently retaken control of much of its eastern territory bordering Russia, but fierce fighting for the rebel-held cities of Donetsk and Luhansk persists.
People look at damaged Ukrainian military equipment in Donetsk on August 24.
The first trucks of a Russian aid convoy roll on the main road to Luhansk in eastern Ukraine on Friday, August 22. The head of Ukraine's security service called the convoy a "direct invasion" under the guise of humanitarian aid since it entered the country without Red Cross monitors.
A pro-Russian rebel holds shrapnel from a rocket after shelling in Donetsk, Ukraine, on August 22.
Residents sit in a makeshift bomb shelter during a shelling in Makiyivka, Ukraine, on Wednesday, August 20.
Dogs play together as a Russian convoy carrying aid supplies stops at a border control point with Ukraine, in the Russian town of Donetsk, in the Rostov-on-Don region on August 20.
Ukrainian forces take their position not far from Luhansk, Ukraine, on August 20. Ukrainian troops made a significant push into rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine, claiming control over a large part of Luhansk and encircling the largest rebel-held city, Donetsk, in fighting that has left at least 43 dead.
Clouds of smoke are on the horizon as Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian rebels clash in Yasynuvata, a suburb of Donetsk, Ukraine, on Tuesday, August 19.
An Ukrainian helicopter flies near Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on August 19.
Ukrainian soldiers load a missile during fighting with pro-Russian rebels Monday, August 18, near Luhansk, Ukraine.
Boys play at a refugee camp, set up by the Russian Emergencies Ministry, near the Russian-Ukrainian border on August 18.
Ukrainian soldiers carry weapons at a checkpoint near Debaltseve, Ukraine, on Saturday, August 16.
Pro-Russian rebels greet each other as they pass near Krasnodon, Ukraine, on August 16.
A fireman tries to extinguish a fire after shelling in Donetsk on August 16.
Ukrainian border guards patrol near Novoazovsk, Ukraine, on Friday, August 15.
Trucks of a Russian humanitarian convoy are parked in a field outside the town of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, in the Rostov region of Russia about 20 miles from the Ukraine border, on August 15. Ukrainian officials were preparing to inspect the convoy, which was bound for the conflict-torn east.
A truck driver from the convoy jumps out of a trailer on August 15. The Ukrainian government had expressed fears that the convoy was a large-scale effort to smuggle supplies or troops to pro-Russian rebels.
A tank belonging to pro-Russian rebels moves along a street in Donetsk on August 15.
A Ukrainian soldier walks past a line of self-propelled guns as a column of military vehicles prepares to head to the front line near Illovaisk, Ukraine, on Thursday, August 14.
A Ukrainian soldier prepares a mortar at a position near Illovaisk on August 14.
A man inspects damage at his house after a shelling in Donetsk on August 14.
A convoy of trucks, which Moscow said was carrying relief goods for war-weary civilians, moves from Voronezh, Russia, toward Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on August 14.
Pro-Russian rebels on the outskirts of Donetsk stand at a checkpoint near a bullet-riddled bus on Wednesday, August 13.
A pro-Russian rebel inspects damage after shelling in Donetsk on Thursday, August 7.
Smoke billows from a Ukrainian fighter jet crash near the village of Zhdanivka, Ukraine, on August 7.
Residents of eastern Ukraine cry in a hospital basement being used as a bomb shelter August 7 in Donetsk.
Ordnance from a Ukrainian rocket launcher shoots toward a pro-Russian militant position in the Donetsk region on August 7.
Relatives of Ukrainian military member Kyril Andrienko, who died in combat in eastern Ukraine, gather during his funeral in Lviv, Ukraine, on August 7.
Refugees from southeastern Ukraine wait at a refugee camp in Donetsk on Wednesday, August 6.
A pro-Russian rebel adjusts his weapon in Donetsk on August 6.
Men walk past a bomb crater in Donetsk on August 6.
A man steps out of his car as Ukrainian soldiers inspect the vehicle at a checkpoint in Debaltseve on August 6.
Ukrainian servicemen sit on a bus near Slovyansk, Ukraine, on Tuesday, August 5.
A pro-Russian separatist guards a road as Australian, Malaysian and Dutch investigators prepare to examine the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 near the village of Rossipne, Ukraine, on August 5. U.S. and Ukrainian officials allege that a Russian-made missile shot down the plane from rebel-held territory, killing all 298 people on board. Russia and the rebel fighters deny involvement.
Rescue workers carry the body of a woman who was killed during a bomb shelling in Donetsk on August 5.
A boy stands in a hallway of a refugee hostel run by pro-Russian rebels in Donetsk on Monday, August 4.
Ukrainian servicemen from the Donbass volunteer battalion clean their guns Sunday, August 3, in Popasna, Ukraine.
Ukrainian soldiers fire shells toward rebel positions near Pervomaysk, Ukraine, on Saturday, August 2.
Ukrainian troops patrol near the village of Novoselovka on Thursday, July 31.
A woman says goodbye to her mother as she flees her home in Shakhtersk, Ukraine, on Tuesday, July 29. See more photos of the crisis from earlier this year
Photos: Crisis in Ukraine Poroshenko has said thousands of Russian troops are in his nation's east, helping the separatists.
Though Russia has denied sending its troops to Ukraine, it defended the rebels' action in the east.
"Washington and Brussels need to ask Kiev authorities to stop shelling the houses, schools, hospitals and so on because you leave militia with no choice but to stand up to protect their people," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
Lavrov: 'Let us sit down and talk'
"Let's not ask militia to lay down their weapons and allow themselves to be killed."
Lavrov said negotiations, not threats, will help resolve the crisis between the two neighbors.
"Let us sit down and talk instead of threatening with sanctions and stubbornly making absolutely unrealistic demands of the militia laying down arms," he said. "This is what the peace plan of Poroshenko is about."
Russian President Vladimir Putin sparked controversy when he talked about "statehood" for eastern Ukraine.
"Substantive meaningful talks related to the issues of society's political organization and statehood in southeastern Ukraine should start immediately in order to protect people living there," Putin said Sunday.
The Kremlin later denied that Putin was calling for statehood in the region, saying he was referring to inclusive talks with all sides represented.
Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March following the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych the previous month.
Violence broke out in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions in April when separatist leaders declared independence from the government in Kiev. Since then, the conflict between the pro-Russia rebels and the Ukrainian military has killed 2,500 people, according to the United Nations.
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A U.S. lawmaker called for the arming of Ukrainian forces along the eastern border.
Sen. Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey, is in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev. He said the conflict in eastern Ukraine is not a rebel uprising, but a Russian invasion.
"We should be providing the Ukrainians with the type of defensive weapons that will impose a cost upon Putin for further aggression," said Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
In the past, U.S. President Barack Obama has opposed supplying Ukraine with weapons. .
Poroshenko warned that his nation's crisis with Russia has worsened, and is inching closer to a "full-scale war."
The European Union has demanded Moscow withdraw its troops or face additional sanctions.
European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said new sanctions are in the works for Russia. Proposals will be ready for consideration in a week, he said over the weekend.