Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

BRUSSELS—NATO nations agreed on Tuesday to bolster the military alliance’s defences against Russian aggression, continuing its return to its founding mission by focusing on nearby threats as it steps back from more than a decade of combat in Afghanistan.

The 28 member countries approved a new interim quick-reaction military force to protect themselves from Russia or other threats, with an initial unit to be up and running next year, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said. The interim force will be supplanted in 2016 by a permanent one, he said.

“We are protecting our allies and supporting our partners,” Stoltenberg told reporters at an annual meeting of NATO’s foreign ministers.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged diplomats from other nations to contribute their fair share to the alliance, noting “we can’t have 21st-century security on the cheap.”

It was likely to be the last meeting of foreign ministers who oversaw the International Security Assistance Force, made up largely of NATO troops, which has sought to stabilize Afghanistan since shortly after the 2001 invasion.

The foreign ministers also approved maintaining measures through 2015 initiated to reassure NATO nations nearest Russia, Stoltenberg said. Such measures include stepped-up air patrols over the Baltic Sea and the continuous rotation of NATO military units in and out of countries such as Poland and Baltic republics.

A senior NATO official, speaking anonymously, said the brigade-sized land-based component of the force, about 3,000-4,000 troops contributed by Germany, Norway and the Netherlands, is expected to be operational as of Jan. 1.

The military ramp-up was largely spurred by Russia’s aggressive actions in neighbouring Ukraine. It comes as Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russia separatists signed a new truce on Tuesday, to take effect Friday.

But as with the Sept. 5 ceasefire, which has been violated almost daily with more than 1,000 combat-related deaths in three months, the renewed pledge to end eight months of fighting over territory in eastern Ukraine is likely to have little deterrent effect on irregular forces fighting on both sides.