NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg announced today that a new “agile expeditionary force” was now operational.

The “interim” military group was formed of troops from Germany, Norway, the Netherlands and “some others,” Mr Stoltenberg said in Berlin.

The US-led alliance was now “focused on a more permanent high-readiness force.”

The new unit was called for by British Prime Minister David Cameron in September, supposedly to better enable Nato to shore up the fascist-installed Kiev regime.

But Germany’s increasing involvement has proven controversial in the country, with thousands flocking to last weekend’s Rosa Luxemburg conference, titled Peace Instead of Nato.

Former German finance minister Oskar Lafontaine, now a member of the Left party, met cheers when he declared that Germany had a responsibility to ensure “no war ever emanates from our soil.”