NATO defense ministers have approved plans to bolster the alliance along its eastern flank.
Speaking on February 10 ahead of the ministers' two-day talks in Brussels, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said a new multinational force will beef up NATO's presence in Poland and other allies close to Russia "will send a clear signal."
Stoltenberg said the multinational composition of the new force will make it clear that "an attack on one ally will be an attack on the whole alliance."
He added that the new unit will rotate in and out of Eastern European member states but will not be based there.
NATO was considering other measures including stockpiling military equipment and building new infrastructure.
It was not immediately clear what was decided on those issues.
The new force deployment is part of plans drawn up by NATO largely in response to the Ukraine crisis and Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.