Nato summit: Obama expects UK to continue Europe security role

Barack Obama says the UK will remain a major contributor to European security despite its vote to leave the European Union, as Nato and EU nations signed a deal focusing on the perceived threat from Russia. Mr Obama added he hoped for an orderly UK transition from the EU. UK Prime Minister David Cameron insisted that the UK would not turn its back on European defence following the Brexit vote.

Nato is sending four battalions to the region with troops from four nations. Under the deal four multinational battalions will be stationed in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland made up of some 3,000 troops from the UK, US, Germany and Canada.

class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">Meanwhile, Russia's ambassador to Nato, Alexander Grushko, warned of a risk of a spiral of confrontation, by building a new Iron Curtain. He told that the decision would lead to military consequences.

Tensions between the Atlantic alliance and Moscow are growing again. Russia's seizure of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine and the involvement of its troops in the fighting in eastern Ukraine has, in Nato's view, torn up the rule-book for the way security matters are dealt with in the post-Cold War world.