Brussels: NATO will hold its next summit on July 11 and 12, the alliance said on Friday, with the fight against terrorism and the growing threat from Russia expected to be high on the agenda.
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the meeting at the alliance`s new billion-euro headquarters in Brussels would "further strengthen the bond" between Europe and North America.
Last year`s summit was marred by doubts over the United States` commitment to the alliance as President Donald Trump berated leaders for not spending enough on defence and refused to give an unequivocal commitment to NATO`s Article 5 collective security guarantee.
The 2018 summit comes against a backdrop of increasing concern about growing Russian assertiveness, particularly in the areas of hybrid and cyber warfare.
NATO has deployed around 4,000 international troops to the Baltic states and Poland to counter the threat to the alliance`s eastern flank, particularly since the Kremlin`s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
"In response to evolving threats, NATO has implemented the biggest reinforcement of our collective defence in a generation," Stoltenberg said in a statement announcing the summit dates.
"Our multinational battlegroups in the east of the alliance are now fully operational and we are strengthening our presence in the Black Sea region."
The summit will also discuss the fight against terrorism -- an area which Washington wants to see NATO do more on.
NATO normally holds a full formal summit every two years, but leaders decided to hold an additional, slimmed down version in May 2017 in Brussels to mark the formal handover of the US-led alliance`s new high-tech headquarters.
After causing alarm at last year`s summit, Trump later clarified that the US was still committed to Article 5, under which NATO regards an attack on one member as an attack on all.
