(CNN) -- The recent NATO summit in Newport, Wales was initially meant to prepare the alliance for the post-Afghanistan era and pooling of resources at the time of defense cuts, known in NATO lingua as "smart defense." However, as often happens, the summit agenda was hijacked by more current and dramatic developments: the rise of ISIS in Iraq and Russia's push into Ukraine. Both these developments have reminded NATO that its core business -- the defense of its member states -- needs to be returned to the center of the alliance's agenda. Russia's annexation of Crimea and continued push into the south-east of Ukraine -- a NATO partner country -- has inevitably provoked fear amongst Ukraine's neighbors, all of whom have relatively fresh memories of Russian domination.
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A NATO summit in Wales last week took place amid crises in Iraq and Ukraine
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Ukraine's neighbors ensured its conflict was on the agenda, Marcin Zaborowski says
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Past rhetoric of partnership with Russia was replaced by talk of facing an adversary, he says
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But in the end, Zaborowski says, the summit gave Ukraine little to combat a belligerent Russia
The announcement that NATO would spend 15 million euros ($19M) on military aid to Ukraine did not impress the @placeholder nor the Russians.