NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said the military alliance is not seeking confrontation with Russia by bolstering its battalions in Eastern Europe.
"We are strengthening our collective defense not to provoke a conflict but to prevent a conflict," Stoltenberg said at a news conference in Berlin on June 2 with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Stoltenberg stressed NATO was not seeking a "new Cold War," but instead was striving for a "more constructive relationship with Russia."
Relations between Russia and NATO are already at levels last seen during the Cold War, largely over Russia's actions in Ukraine.
On May 30 in Warsaw, Stoltenberg said an upcoming NATO summit in the Polish capital will discuss bolstering the alliance's presence in Poland and other countries on its eastern flank.
"There will be more NATO troops in Poland after the Warsaw summit, to send a clear signal that an attack on Poland will be considered an attack on the whole alliance," he said.
