The 2022 NATO virtual summit was a meeting of the heads of state and heads of government of NATO held virtually, on 25 February 2022.
[1] The meeting took place at the request of the Latvian and Estonian governments, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which had begun a day earlier.
[2] The request was pursuant to Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which requires consultations when "the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the parties is threatened.
"[2] At the summit, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that the alliance would be deploying extra land, sea and air units to member states in Eastern Europe from the NATO Response Force.
[2][3] This was the first time the response force had been deployed for collective defence.