Mons, Belgium, Rajab 27, 1437, May 4, 2016, SPAThe NATO military alliance remains essential 25 years after the end of the Cold War, its new supreme allied commander in Europe said Wednesday, as Russia pledged to deploy thousands more soldiers to its west and south, dpa reported. "In today's challenging security environment, transatlantic cooperation is needed more than ever," US General Curtis Scaparrotti said after taking over command from US General Philip Breedlove at NATO's military headquarters in the Belgian town of Mons. "Even with the end of the Cold War, our NATO alliance ... remains vital as we face a new set of challenges," he added, identifying one of them as "a resurgent Russia, striving to project itself as a world power." The relationship between Moscow and NATO has soured following the Russian annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula. Moscow has also been accused of destabilizing eastern Ukraine by supporting separatists there. "Russia has been very active in eastern Ukraine. I don't see any indication that that's going to change in the short term and I don't expect it will," Scaparrotti said. But Moscow has accused NATO of fuelling the tensions by bolstering its military presence on the eastern fronts of the alliance. The troop deployment announced on Wednesday is a countermeasure to NATO activities, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu was quoted as saying by the Tass news agency. NATO is discussing deploying battalions to Poland and the Baltic states, which border Russia and have said they feel threatened by Moscow's actions in Ukraine. A decision is expected at a July summit in Warsaw. -- SPA 21:26 LOCAL TIME 18:26 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w