(VOVworld) - NATO defense ministers on Wednesday approved new multinational reinforcements in Eastern Europe.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016. (Photo: AP/Virginia Mayo)

The move will likely strain relations between NATO and Russia. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the military presence on the ground, in the air, and at sea will beef up defenses of frontline alliance members most at risk from Russia.

He said the troops will be stationed in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Bulgaria, and Romania where joint operations will take place based on the alliance’s integration force.

The number of the force will triple from 13,000 to 40,000 soldiers while the spearhead force will be able to start deploying in as little as 48 hours with 5,000 soldiers supported by the air force and navy.

Apart from the six headquarters or NATO Force Integration Units which were activated last year, Stoltenberg said two additional commands will be opened from now until the end of this year.

In response to NATO’s decision, Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Non-Proliferation and Arms Control Department Mikhail Ulyanov said NATO’s increased military presence is not a very promising path adding that Russia does not pose a real threat to NATO countries. He said if NATO builds up its forces, Russia may do something similar.

Russian permanent representative in NATO Aleksander Grushko said the bloc is running counter to its commitments on further talks with Russia, stressing that Russia doesn’t refuse holding dialogues with NATO within the framework of the Russia-NATO Council for the cause of strengthening security across Europe and the Atlantic Ocean.