NATO military chiefs have met to prepare for the leaders’ summit to be held in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius in July.

The officials will discuss new regional plans that “provide a much more precise requirement for what is needed to help transform our militaries,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in his opening remarks on Wednesday.

With the new arrangements that are expected to be adopted by the NATO leaders in July, “allies will know exactly what forces and capabilities are needed, including where, what and how to deploy,” he added.

These “geographically specific plans describe how we will defend key and relevant places in our alliance against” the threats of Russia and terrorism, Admiral Rob Bauer, the chair of the NATO Military Committee, explained.

“For the first time since the end of the Cold War, we will have objective, threat-based capability targets to offer to nations,” Bauer added.

Stoltenberg said the alliance must “redouble” its efforts to keep its 1 billion citizens safe and to uphold the rules-based international order as it prepares for “more dangerous future.”

In order to meet new challenges, NATO leaders should agree on a new defence investment pledge that sees 2 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) as a minimum investment, Stoltenberg asserted.

In addition, he said he expects leaders to “endorse the new NATO defence production action plan” to boost investment and production capacities in the allied countries.