Britain says it remains committed to leading Nato task force in 2024

Britain says it is committed to leading a Nato task force in 2024 – disregarding a report that delays had driven the German defence ministry to explore extending its leadership beyond 2023.

The report, by Berlin-based digital news organisation Table.Media (which cited German military sources), suggested the UK would take up the reins several months later than initially planned.

"The UK is ready to honour our commitment to lead Nato's Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) in 2024 –  any suggestion otherwise is completely untrue," a Ministry of Defence (MOD) spokesperson said.

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They added: "Nato is currently reviewing its military plans and force model which may affect their requests to alliance members."

The UK plans to take on the leadership of Nato's VJTF in January 2024, after Germany's year leading the force.

Nato is currently conducting its biggest review of operations and commitments since the Cold War.

This review may result in the VJTF being replaced with a new task force, or affect the date at which the task force's leadership handover would take place.

France this month handed over command of the VJTF to Germany's Bundeswehr for 12 months.

Created after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, the VJTF was deployed for the first time for collective defence after Russia invaded Ukraine in February.

A leadership position is rotated among members to ensure the military commitment is fairly shared.