NATO is set to expand its troop numbers eightfold from 40,000 to 300,000 in what its secretary general Jens Stoltenberg today said was the “biggest overhaul since the cold war.”

He was speaking ahead of the Nato summit which opens in the Spanish capital Madrid tomorrow when he announced the increased numbers,

“At the summit, we will strengthen our forward defences. We will enhance our battle groups in the eastern part of the alliance up to brigade levels. 

“We will transform the Nato response force. And increase the number of our high-readiness forces to well over 300,000,” he said at a news conference.

”We will also boost our ability to reinforce in crisis and conflict, including with: more pre-positioned equipment and stockpiles of military supplies, more forward-deployed capabilities like air defence, strengthened command and control and upgraded defence plans with forces pre-assigned to defend specific allies,” the Nato chief said.

Nato will deploy troops in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania under the plans with troops able to respond in 48 hours to any attempted invasion. 

But the restructure will require a further increase to the Nato budget with member states expected to increased military spending for the eighth consecutive year.

Under Nato rules, countries must spend at least 2 per cent of their GDP to reach military spending targets which have increased by $350 billion (£284.7bn) since 2014.

This risks already weakened economies under further strain with inflation hitting record levels across Europe and the United States amid rising energy prices and the threat of impending recession.  

The alliance will decide on a new “strategic concept for a new security reality,” Mr Stoltenberg said, with discussion also set to focus on China and a new approach to relations with Beijing. 

Protesters took to the streets of Madrid again today with one person describing the announcement as “barbaric,” saying that increased funding for Nato means “detraction from spending elsewhere.”

Another said that it was “the logic of violence,” calling for the military alliance to be disbanded. 

Leaders of Nato’s 30 member states will gather tomorrow, some of them fresh from the G7 summit which saw British Prime Minister lead calls for “a surge” in weapons to Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the G7 leaders calling for more arms as his armed forces struggle against their Russian counterparts. 

But he dismissed calls for peace talks, insisting that it was the wrong time for negotiations with Moscow. 

At least two people were reported to have been killed and 20 injured as a Russian missile strike hit Kremenchuk shopping centre in central Ukraine.

Details were unfolding as the Morning Star went to print. Deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential office Kyrylo Tymoshenko said nine of the wounded were in a serious condition.