UPDATE - NATO to deploy hundreds of troops over Russia concerns

UPDATES WITH STOLTENBERG’S OPENING REMARKS AT NATO SUMMIT, REMARKS BY POLISH PRESIDENT DUDA

WARSAW (AA) – NATO countries announced sweeping plans Friday to bolster their defenses and build closer ties with the European Union to address shared security concerns, including a more assertive Russia.

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance would take major decisions to address the concerns of its member states as the United States and Britain said they would deploy hundreds of troops to Eastern Europe.

Addressing leaders of 28 member states at a key NATO summit in Poland, he said: “Here in Warsaw we will take important decisions that will shape our security for many years to come. We will strengthen our deterrence and defense.

“We will agree to enhance our forward presence here in Poland, as well as in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. We will also strengthen our presence in the southeast part of our alliance. And we will step up our cyber and ballistic missile defenses.”

Polish President Andrzej Duda, who is hosting the summit, welcomed NATO’s move to station multinational battalions deployed on a rotational basis.

“This summit needs to bring stability in times of uncertainty, demonstrate our unity in times of division, and ensure security in times of threats,” he said in his opening remarks at the summit.

“Providing security to the allies is not a single act. It’s an ongoing process. Today we need to take another step by establishing a multinational enhanced forward presence to strengthen NATO’s defense and deterrence on the eastern flank,” he added.

U.S. President Barack Obama said his country would send additional 1,000 troops to lead the battalion stationed in Poland, while the U.K. announced plans to send 500 troops to lead the Estonian battalion and “provide reassurance and to react immediately to any crisis or incident.”

Underlining the U.K.’s continuing role in NATO after the Brexit vote, British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said: “These deployments show Britain taking a leading role in NATO, protecting the security of our Baltic allies. We can do this because we are increasing defense spending every year for the rest of the decade.”

The battalions in Lithuania and Latvia would be led by Germany and Canada respectively.

- ‘Not a confrontation with Russia’

Stoltenberg underlined that NATO’s new deterrence measures in Eastern Europe would be defensive in nature, and are not aimed at a new confrontation with Russia.

“We do not want a new Cold War. The Cold War is history. And it should remain history,” he said, while addressing a forum earlier on Friday.

“We will continue to seek constructive and meaningful dialogue with Russia,” he said.

NATO-Russia relations soured further following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March 2014 and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The UN General Assembly voted almost unanimously to proclaim the annexation illegal.

Along with many UN countries, including the U.S. and the EU, Turkey does not recognize Crimea as Russian territory.

Eastern European countries have long called for a stronger NATO presence in their countries amid fears of a more assertive Russia.

- New EU deal

The troop deployment came as NATO signed a joint declaration with the EU aimed at intensifying cooperation in addressing common security challenges, including cyberattacks and the refugee crisis.

European Council President Donald Tusk said closer cooperation between the EU and NATO would improve the security of citizens in Europe.

“We want to be ready to respond and coordinate our actions if and when one of our members or institutions comes under hybrid threats, we equally want to prevent attacks,” he said.

He said close cooperation between the EU and NATO would provide more security in case of attacks on critical infrastructure in Europe, cyberattacks on banking systems, or disinformation campaigns via social networks.

He also said the EU and NATO would intensify intelligence-sharing and conduct parallel and coordinated exercises to be ready to face such threats.

*Anadolu Agency's Michael Daventry contributed to this report from London.