“Another Russian aggression will lead to more NATO presence, not less” – Jens Stoltenberg summed it up on Thursday with this formula.
The Alliance Secretary General spoke about strengthening troops on the eastern flank.
Next to him was Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister.
He spoke of the "most dangerous moment" in the "biggest security crisis that Europe has faced in decades".
He, too, had brought a support package to Brussels before continuing on to Warsaw, and a sizeable one at that.
The UK will double its forces in Estonia to 1,800 troops.
It is also sending 350 more marines to Poland, two naval vessels to the eastern Mediterranean and more fighter jets to south-eastern Europe.
Thomas Gutschker
Political correspondent for the European Union, NATO and the Benelux countries based in Brussels.
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A number of NATO countries have announced reinforcements on the eastern flank in recent days - so many that it is easy to lose track.
This is also due to the fact that there are different commitments that have grown historically.
In the beginning there was air policing, the monitoring of the airspace in the Baltic States.
It began in 2004 when Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined the alliance because none of the three states had an air force.
Several NATO partners took turns doing this, including Germany, usually with four combat aircraft.
After Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, up to a dozen planes were stationed in Ämari, Estonia, and Šiauliai, Lithuania.
Over the past year, interceptors rose 370 times to intercept Russian military planes approaching Allied airspace without warning.
It is a largely routine game of cat and mouse, with which the Russians are also testing the Alliance's readiness to react.
Also in 2014, the alliance decided to increase air surveillance in Bulgaria to better protect the south-eastern flank.
There is now a clear expansion here.
Spain is sending four Eurofighters, the British are sending the same type, but have not yet given a number.
The Netherlands are providing two F-35s, currently the most modern combat aircraft.
The naval presence is also being expanded, especially in the eastern Mediterranean, from where ships from non-riparian states can sail into the Black Sea for a limited time - this is precisely regulated in the Treaty of Montreux.
Canada and Spain have each pledged a frigate, the British a destroyer and a patrol ship.
The third pillar of the alliance are the so-called Battle Groups of the "enhanced front presence".
These are reinforced tank battalions that can operate independently in the field.
This concept was adopted at the 2016 NATO summit in Warsaw and represents the most important adjustment to the new security policy situation holds.
While these units would always be defeated in the event of a Russian attack, the alliance expresses that Russia would immediately be at war with all of NATO.
The Battle Groups were stationed in the three Baltic States and in Poland.
Germany has taken the lead in Lithuania, and the fifth anniversary of this engagement was celebrated earlier this week.
The Bundeswehr currently has around 500 soldiers;
this number is now to be increased by 350.
This is not a great additional service, because the troops had already stationed 800 to 1,000 men in the country in the past.
In addition to the Battle Groups, the Americans have stationed a combat brigade in Poland, whose units regularly take part in exercises in other states on the eastern flank.
These forces are now being reinforced by 1700 soldiers.
The British increase their bilateral presence in Poland to 500 soldiers.
Over the next week, NATO defense ministers will discuss stationing battle groups in the south-east of the alliance area.
This goes back to a recommendation from the Commander-in-Chief in Europe and the Military Committee.
To the extent that Russia is massing troops in Ukraine, now also in Belarus, the three neighboring countries Slovakia, Hungary and Romania as well as Bulgaria are to be better protected.
For Romania, France has already offered to lead such a battle group.
The United States is also moving 1,000 troops from Germany to the country.
In Hungary, there are considerations to subordinate national forces directly to the alliance.
In Slovakia and Bulgaria, the stationing of alliance partners is a matter of domestic political controversy.
In a broader sense, the rapid reaction forces of the Alliance are also part of the picture.
This is a maximum of 45,000 soldiers.
For the spearhead of 5,000 soldiers currently led by France, the reaction time was recently reduced to a few days.