CARDIFF, WALES—Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday laid out his own proposal to end the fighting in Ukraine, a conflict that has put Western nations on edge and sparked military preparations to counter Moscow’s ambitions.

But as Putin was unveiling a seven-point plan to end hostilities, just a day before leaders gathered for a NATO summit, U.S. President Barack Obama made a stop in Estonia where he issued a full-throated pledge that NATO would protect the Baltic states — all members of the alliance — against any Russian aggression.

“An attack on one is an attack on all. So if, in such a moment, you ever ask again, “Who will come to help,” you’ll know the answer — the NATO Alliance,” Obama said during a visit to the Estonian capital Tallinn.

“We’ll be here for Estonia. We will be here for Latvia. We will be here for Lithuania. You lost your independence once before. With NATO, you’ll never lose it again,” Obama said during his pre-summit stop-over.

And he took aim at Russia’s “brazen” assault on Ukraine, which he says has threatened European security.

“We will not accept Russia’s occupation and illegal annexation of Crimea or any part of Ukraine,” Obama said. “We must stand united against Russia’s aggression.”

And he said the Russian forces in Ukraine are not on a humanitarian mission, despite Moscow’s claims.

“They are Russian combat forces with Russian weapons in Russian tanks,” he said.

Obama’s comments come as Canada and other NATO countries get set to take part in joint military exercises with the Ukrainian army in two weeks.

A statement from U.S. European Command says about 1,300 military personnel from 15 nations — including Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Canada, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, and the U.S. — are scheduled to take part in Exercise Rapid Trident form Sept. 15-26.

Rapid Trident is an annual exercise, and was planned well before the current conflict in Ukraine. The last Rapid Trident exercise was held in July 2013.

At their two-day summit starting Thursday, NATO nations are also expected to endorse plans to ramp up their military readiness as a deterrent to any further military moves by Moscow.

The goal of the summit is to refocus a military alliance lulled into a false sense of security by years of détente with Russia and weakened by cuts to defence budgets by member states.

On the agenda is a call for more defence spending and a demand to member states to commit troops and equipment to boost NATO’s capabilities, including the creation of a showcase rapid response force — a so-called “spearhead” — that could land in a hot spot within days.

Prior to the summit Canadian officials said they were open to the requests but tensions were on display Wednesday when Prime Minister Stephen Harper snapped back at demands that Ottawa commit more resources to defence.

Harper said Canada’s commitment to NATO shouldn’t be measured in dollars but rather its “disproportionate” involvement in the alliance’s military missions.

That includes the lengthy and costly mission in Afghanistan, the air campaign over Libya and, this year, a reassurance mission to bolster military presence in Eastern Europe as a response to Russia.

“Canada has not only contributed everything we’ve (been) asked of those missions, we’ve contributed disproportionately,” Harper said Wednesday.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

“So don’t tell me how you’re spending, tell me how much you’re actually doing. That is how we will measure how much we spend,” he told a business audience in London.

NATO has set a benchmark that its member nations earmark two per cent of their gross domestic product. Canada, with a defence budget just over $18 billion a year, spends just 1 per cent of GDP on the military.

Harper said leaders have agreed to “compromise language” that countries below the 2 per cent benchmark will “aim to spend more” in future. But the prime minister made plain that he won’t be pushed into meeting “arbitrary” spending targets.

“We don’t go out and specify a dollar figure and then figure out how to spend it. We go out and figure out what it is we need to do, and then we attempt to get a budget as frugally as possible to achieve those objectives,” he said.

But in his speech in Estonia, Obama made clear that he continues to see increased defence spending as a priority for the summit. He urged NATO allies to follow Estonia’s lead in meeting the 2 per cent benchmark.

“This week’s summit is the moment for every NATO nation to step up and commit to meeting its responsibilities to our alliance. Estonia does it; every ally must do it,” Obama said.

Putin, speaking in the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator, unveiled his seven-point peace plan that calls on insurgents to stop “advancing” and Ukrainian troops to withdraw. And it calls for prisoner exchange and opening of humanitarian corridors to deliver aid.

Putin released his plan after a discussion with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko earlier in the day. While there was confusion whether the two sides agreed to a formal ceasefire, both Moscow and Kyiv discussed ways to end the bloodshed.

The so-called “Putin plan” marks the first serious effort by Moscow to quell the fighting in Ukraine — fighting that Western leaders say Putin has helped fuel because of Russia’s backing of separatist rebels.

But Putin’s move Wednesday could be a signal that Russia, increasingly isolated on the world stage, is feeling the bite of increasingly severe economic sanctions imposed by Western nations.

With files from Star wire services

Read more about: