Riga summit

The request puts NATO member Turkey in a difficult position

German armed forces reduces the number of soldiers participating in NATO's trainings in eastern Europe this year. According to information from Germany, this is due to the long-term deployment of some 1,000 NATO troops in the Baltic countries and Poland. Only in Lithuania, Germany has 450 soldiers.

At their meeting scheduled to take place in Brussels on Wednesday and Thursday, defence ministers of the member countries of NATO are expected to agree on enhancing the presence of the Alliance in the east.

At a media briefing on Tuesday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg revealed some of the topics to be discussed during the meeting.

The US and its NATO allies on Sunday marked the formal end of the war in Afghanistan where a new international training and support mission is set to begin.

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NATO will bolster its eastern defences and buttress support for Kiev at a summit starting on Sept. 4 prompted by the Ukraine crisis to enact the most radical shift in its strategy towards Russia since the end of the Cold War.