Newport, Wales, Dhu-AlQa'dah 10, 1435, Sep 5, 2014, SPA -- NATO ended what had been billed by its outgoing chief as "one of the most important summits" in the 65-year history of the transatlantic alliance Friday with an "anti-Russian" rapid response force and a newfound sense of purpose, dpa reported. After years of agonizing over its troublesome combat operation in Afghanistan, which wraps up at the end of 2014, NATO's 28 leaders returned to their core mission. The shift was largely prompted by the crisis in eastern Ukraine, where Russia has been accused of fomenting separatism, having annexed Crimea in March. In other significant developments, leaders for the first time pledged to raise defence spending, while the United States and Britain used the opportunity of the Welsh summit to forge an alliance with other key NATO members against Islamic State militants in Iraq. "This is an alliance which is strong and united, that knows what the major challenges are, and is determined to overcome them," said the summit's host, British Prime Minister David Cameron. -- SPA 20:43 LOCAL TIME 17:43 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/1269538