Brussels: NATO’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has announced plans to double the the number of NATO troops on its eastern flank, near the Ukrainian border, The New York Times reported on Thursday. The increase in NATO troops would be enhanced in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. This is being carried out hours before US President Joe Biden was set to arrive in Brussels for a major summit with allies. The NATO action and the upcoming meetings are part of a coordinated effort by the Western allies to push for tougher penalties against Russia to prevent its invasion of Ukraine from growing into a wider conflict in the region. President Biden is likely to target more Russian lawmakers with new sanctions later this week. UNI ACL1003