OREANDA-NEWS. The countries that make up the North Atlantic Alliance will significantly increase defense spending, as well as expand cyber capabilities and defenses. This is stated in a statement released on Thursday following the NATO summit in Brussels, TASS reports.

“The steps we are taking to ensure the security of the Alliance and the Euro-Atlantic region will require adequate resources. The Allies are substantially increasing their defense spending,” the statement said.

The organization plans to deploy 40,000 troops on the eastern flag, deploy response elements there, and establish four additional multinational battle groups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. In addition, the alliance stressed, NATO will increase "the resilience of its societies and its infrastructure in order to counter the harmful influence of Russia."

“We are expanding our cyber capabilities and defenses by supporting each other in the event of a cyber attack. We are ready to hold accountable those who harm us in cyberspace and increase information sharing and situational awareness, increase civil preparedness and enhance our ability to respond to disinformation,” the statement said.

On March 15, Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that NATO, in connection with the situation in Ukraine, had decided to strengthen its own monitoring capabilities and air defense forces (Air Defense) on the eastern flank.

At the same time, the alliance does not yet intend to raise issues with Ukraine's membership in NATO.