Have we in the West made mistakes in dealing with Russia? Probably, yes. But I do not believe that our Russia policy since 1989 explains or justifies in any way Russia’s current policy of confrontation with the West or its unprovoked aggression against its neighbors.

So what does explain Russia’s reorientation? I believe it is domestic considerations, more than anything else. Putin fears his own “color revolution”. The Maidan demonstrations, the aspiration for more democracy and for less corruption, are a threat to his own system of power in Russia – especially after he saw how the flawed Duma and Presidential elections in 2011 and 2012 triggered popular protests on the streets of Moscow.

So Putin embarked on a campaign of nationalism. He did this to divert attention from an economy in decline, well before the sanctions and the dramatic fall in the oil price. He presented Western and traditional Russian values as incompatible, as even being in direct conflict. In his first term as President, he asked Russians to accept less democracy for more prosperity. Now he is asking them to trade prosperity for militant nationalism, in which Russia’s greatness is measured not by the country’s economic and scientific achievements, but by its ability to dominate and destabilize its neighbors.

Russia is paying the price for its aggression – as it must. The sanctions are biting, capital flight is increasing, and Russians’ standard of living is declining. But we cannot expect an immediate turnaround. As we saw in the Balkans, it is easier to stoke up the fires of nationalism than to calm them back down. And Putin’s regime is firmly entrenched, assisted by a powerful propaganda machine that feeds paranoia and xenophobia, and by the suppression of dissent.

As far as NATO is concerned, we have no option but to respond, and to protect ourselves. That is why, at our Summit in Wales last September, NATO’s leaders agreed on a Readiness Action Plan (or RAP). It will ensure that our forces can deploy quickly to deal with any challenge. It will increase the number, size and complexity of our exercises. And it will enable rapid reinforcements should they be needed, facilitated by forward-based command and control and logistics units on the territory of our Eastern allies.

Even though government budgets are being cut by 10%, the Russian military build-up is set to continue. In 2015 we can expect more Russian pressure against its neighbors and a continued hostile stance against NATO.

As far as NATO is concerned, we have no option but to respond, and to protect ourselves. That is why, at our Summit in Wales last September, NATO’s leaders agreed on a Readiness Action Plan (or RAP). It will ensure that our forces can deploy quickly to deal with any challenge. It will increase the number, size and complexity of our exercises. And it will enable rapid reinforcements should they be needed, facilitated by forward-based command and control and logistics units on the territory of our Eastern allies.

This is the most significant boost to our collective defense in decades. It will significantly enhance our ability to defend our populations against threats from both the East and the South. But let me stress that the RAP is purely defensive. Our goal is stability, not competition, with Russia or with anyone else. We are only doing what we need to do to defend ourselves and deter anyone who might wish to challenge us.

And because security does not come for free, in Wales our leaders also made a Defense Investment Pledge: to stop the cuts of the past few decades; to increase defense spending toward meeting the goal of 2% of Gross Domestic Product as our economies grow; and to spend our defense budgets more wisely on the key capabilities we need.

In this new environment, NATO’s security is not an optional extra, or a rain check for some future date. We must implement the Readiness Action Plan and the Defense Investment Pledge – in full and on time. Every Ally must assume its share of the collective responsibility. And I am glad that Norway is responding to the challenge.

With Germany and the Netherlands, Norway is in the lead in establishing the new Interim Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, the so-called ‘Spearhead Force’. This will allow NATO to respond in a matter of days to any attack on NATO territory, and lay the basis for the permanent Spearhead Force that we expect to declare operational at our Warsaw Summit next year.