NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told The Times that a part of NATO troops will be put on a higher state of alert amid growing tensions with Russia.

“We have also seen Russia using propaganda in Europe among NATO allies and that is exactly the reason why NATO is responding”, Stoltenberg noted.

According to him, NATO has cut its defence budget and military investment since the fall of the Soviet Union, while Russia has been bolstering its military capabilities, holding parades involving more than 100,000 troops each year. He also noted that they were responding with “the biggest reinforcement of our collective defence since the end of the Cold War”.

At the same time he emphasized that it was important to keep links between the alliance and Russia.