NATO members agreed Friday to form a "spearhead" force of several thousand land troops ready to deploy within a few days, NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Friday at a summit in Newport, Wales, reports GHN based on CNN.
The troops would be backed by air, sea and special forces, he said, with a command and control center and extra resources in eastern Europe.
"This decision sends a clear message: NATO protects all allies at all times," he said.
"And it sends a clear message to any potential aggressor: Should you even think of attacking one ally, you will be facing the whole alliance."
The new readiness action plan is intended to help NATO respond to Russian aggression and other international conflicts.
Rasmussen also said NATO stands ready to help Iraq in its fight against Islamist extremists if it asks for assistance.
Responses to threats posed by Russia's interference in Ukraine and the rise of ISIS in Syria and Iraq were at the heart of discussions Thursday on the first day of the trans-Atlantic alliance's summit meeting in Wales.
Russia's annexation of Crimea and involvement in the unrest in eastern Ukraine have alarmed NATO members in the region, like Poland and the Baltic states.
A rapid-reaction force would give those nations more security amid Moscow's deteriorating relationship with the West. U.S. officials have stressed that any force would be defensive in posture and not a provocation to Russia.
