US to stand by Ukraine on Crimea annexation

[jakeXT]

7. U.S. Will Respond if Russian Actions Trigger NATO Obligations, General Says

"If Russia is allowed to do this, which is to say move into a sovereign country under the guise of protecting ethnic Russians in Ukraine, it exposes Eastern Europe to some significant risk because there are ethnic enclaves all over Eastern Europe and the Balkans," General Martin Dempsey said in an interview to PBS television.

There are currently 400,000 Romanians living in Ukraine, Dempsey said, citing the example of Romania, which has been a member of NATO since 2004.

"We do have treaty obligations with our NATO allies. And I have assured them that, if that treaty obligation is triggered, we would respond," he said in the interview on Friday night.

In particular, the obligation Dempsey cited is Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which states “that an armed attack against one or more [NATO members] shall be considered an attack against them all.” In such a case the alliance is entitled to mobilize in collective self defense. Although, Article 5 has only been invoked once in NATO’s history — in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/us-will-respond-if-russian-actions-trigger-nato-obligations-general-says/495876.html